Hegemonic Struggles in the City: Artist-Run Spaces and Community Art in the Anti-Gentrification Movement

Abstract

Gentrification processes are one of today’s most critical social issues hitting metropolises around the globe. The role that artists play in these processes by upgrading neighborhoods and making them attractive for further commodification is undisputed. At the same time, independent artist-run project spaces in neighborhoods provide spaces for debate and initiate collective processes. Not only small independent actors and collectives interfere in the political debates, but also large public art institutions that respond to current social and political issues and public demands. Artistic interventions in urban transformation processes are also political interventions, expressing the permeability of the line between art and politics. Indeed, thinking along the political philosopher Antonio Gramsci, such a line does not exist; rather, every cultural and artistic project must be thought of politically. Drawing on theoretical approaches on hegemony, this article aims at examining the critical aspects of community art in relation to the current gentrification processes.

Keywords

• gentrification
• artist-run spaces
• community art
• hegemonic struggles
• antonio gramsci
• henri lefèbvre