“‘I’ wrote this essay with an eye of Black geographies, haunted outdoors, the hidden public that subsidizes the obvious. From within that space, there is - in my opinion - a groundswell of impulses and movements gesturing towards the more-than-just. Gesturing towards 'breaks' of some kind. This essay is an attempt to trace those wandering yearnings for another sun.”

Tasked with developing OBI’s emerging work to link belonging efforts in Europe and the US, I set myself on a mission over the past five months to speak with social justice leaders in both regions about their work in this challenging moment. My interest: gauging how much, if at all, polarization and democratic degradation have affected their efforts to advance belonging, which generally requires coalition-building across lines of difference and an assumption that civic institutions will (or at least can) be responsive to citizen demands.

“‘Othering’ and ‘belonging’ seem like pretty malleable concepts to me, but in the context of borders they are instructive. We are great at creating tribes. They have been to our evolutionary advantage in the past, and they are a fundamental aspect of our nature…I think ideas of othering and belonging color that tribal mentality. To ‘belong’ in a place or society really implies that you don’t belong outside of that society. And that creates room for the notion that some people don’t belong in your society, and instead belong elsewhere. So I think even the desire to belong comes from the tribal instinct, which is necessarily ‘othering.’”

Our leading premise is that art is a powerful tool to translate complex issues in a language that provokes empathy and understanding. By opening these works to the world, and by allowing adaptation and implementation in local contexts, we multiply their impact exponentially. What is more, we promote and foster openness in the visual arts sector, where the practice of licensing works under Creative Commons is low.

“Covid 19 is not necessarily a good opportunity for far right parties. When they govern, they face the same difficulties as other parties in office, because no one has the solution, no one knows the best way to tackle the pandemic efficiently without damaging the economy. When they are not in government, they loudly criticize the parties in office, but most of them do not appear as legitimate to take over—they lack credibility. “

“At nearly every level of society, Italians, when thinking about when meeting someone who's not white, automatically think they are a migrant, not an Italian. And this is the main change I think that our society is going through right now—to understand that you might be Italian but not white or not Christian.”

“When speaking of polarization, we often refer to a phenomenon known as conflict extension: when members of the group converge across a range of issues. This is not happening in the UK. In fact, there are issues such as climate and the protection of nature and the countryside where we see widespread agreement and a shared desire for change.”