On Political Equator III

Possibilities of a Counter-cultural space?: Political Equator 3

A member from the audience is asking me “what is this event: is it an Art event? Architecture? Or Urban?” Just coming back from a similar meeting from Hong Kong, and tackling similar issues that are put on focus in such meetings are in my mind: Illegal economy/precarious labor, migration, homelessness and the whole cross-disciplinary participation in experiencing the marginal spaces and conditions of co-existences of human beings. The point here is, I guess, it does not matter anymore which discipline is hosting such an event: The event focuses, deals with and makes it visible, disseminates the knowledge of “catastrophic conditions of spaces of inhuman justice”. Although there are problems in the realization of participation/engagement, I believe, engaging and acting within social/urban localities, conceiving the artistic/architectural representations in terms of a critical instrument in a process-based engagement within localities is necessary. Moreover, creating specific representations in order to find ways to disseminate action and knowledge are the only ways to create possibilities for counter-cultural spaces.

The meeting Political Equator 3, which is organized by Teddy Cruz, Oscar Romo and Andrea Skrepa (Casa Familiar - The Front) in three stations of San Diego is titled: Conversations on co-existence: border neighborhoods as sites of production (June 3-4 2011, www.politicalequator.org). The experience of the reality of spaces in the border and neighborhoods of San Diego/Tijuana, fused with cross-disciplinary experience from different examples of geographies such as Mumbai, Newark, Istanbul, Gaza, Netherlands and others. Three stations which represent the social/political/environmental realities hosted the event: The community and agriculture-based San Ysidro neighborhood organization Casa Familiar (www.casafamiliar.org), The station Tijuana River Estuary which is an environmental NGO that works on the migration of birds from Alaska to Chile, Alter Terra Field Station Los Laureles Canyon which is an informal settlement site in Tijuana. Realities of Environment, Military, Informal Settlement and Neighborhoods formed the main discussions. The questions and the discussions points in those meetings focused mainly on:
- How to create political-economical maneuvers combined with visual practices against neoliberal governmentality and urban privatization?
- How do we deal with changing policies/new definition of emerging economies? What is the relation between policy building, socio-political issues and visual imagination?
- What are the roles of the actors that work/act together: artists, NGOs, architects, visual cultural producers?
- As Alessandro Petti put forward; “architecture is a political act”: how can this specific act be realized, proceed and make an impact?
- How to manage infrastructure, environmental risks in such extra-territoralities?
- If we consider “Political Equator” as a trans-disciplinary locality; a counter cultural act: How can this “locality” function as a “para-agency” in the context of institutional criticism? How can such a “becoming” institute continue to function to make a deeper impact rather than a temporary event making?


The gathering of Political Equator, might be an “action” that embodies “locality” itself. Locality demands an ethics based on a spatial experience and communality. And it takes place in a context defined by the politics of space, economic transformation, medium, and forms of human behavior. Locality is an act, an event that combines the spatial networks with political and social values. Its visual representation is based on the impossibility that requires a conflict of values. Therefore, any value and an act of counter-cultural possibility need a specific dissemination of visual representation. Methods of participation, engagement in the sites of non-institutional context in such networks/meetings always face the problem of the conflict of values. We are familiar with the expanded field of work of “trans-border” realities, co-existence of communal practices and the violence that the border subjectivities are facing in the society (examples: migrants in Cyprus, workers Shenzen, Gaza, undocumented refugees in Istanbul, Romany communities Greece/Volos and others…).

As other existing format of non-sites meetings/events that engage/co-exist with local actors; what would be the role of Political Equator (or other events in such in the other sites of the world) in the future?
Does it have a current impact in its geography?
Could this event function in terms of creating “solidarity” among the multiple actors that want to position themselves with their “knowledge/praxis” against the wide impact of trans-national neoliberal governmentality?

Meetings such as Political Equator 3 may not be others but further formats of engagement within the society by not getting rather stuck into event celebration. Such cross-disciplinary events/meetings could have sustainable impact both on the practices of the participants and on the local communities. To fuse both knowledge and practices may need to leave out methods of short-term participation and engagement, and has to look for further formats together with the communities, neighborhoods and NGOs. Solidarity among all actors, the share of practices that could lead to trans-knowledge production (knowledge production as action) and the performative epistemology of art/architecture/social sciences need to discover other/further formats of methodology.

I still strongly believe in “acting counter-cultural value” that could be disseminated by artistic/architectural representations in which their action can operate in the political realm.

05.06.2011, San Diego / Tijuana