The 2023 Soros Arts Fellows plan to fight climate change and other global issues with public art

NEW YORK — Palestinian artist Nida Sinnokrot, one of 18 artists receiving the 2023 Soros Arts Fellowships from the Open Society Foundations on Tuesday, says that art provides hope and resilience, even in the midst of war. “We have to, as artists, find the courage to disrupt convention, practice the spreading of hope and cultivate new stories and imaginaries that challenge divisive binaries.” Members of this year’s class of Soros Arts Fellows, including Sinnokrot, will receive $100,000 in unrestricted funding from Open Society Foundations to develop a public art project that confronts climate change with community-based solutions in the next 18 months, said Tatiana Mouarbes, Open Society’s Team Manager for Culture, Art, and Expression. “There’s a clear need for bold action, for justice and for equity-based solutions to ensure a more regenerative and life-sustaining world,” said Mouarbes, adding that “systems of global colonialism, white supremacy and capitalism have long stripped the environment of its natural resources.” At a time when many in philanthropy are reevaluating priorities — including Open Society Foundations, as the nonprofit founded by billionaire philanthropist George Soros changes under the new leadership of his son, Alex — Mouarbes said artists’ work can be just as impactful as other more traditional investments. ”Art is transformative in so many ways, in expanding political and collective consciousness, in transforming and challenging and providing alternatives to oppressive power structures and ideologies, and for creating momentum for change.” New York-based artist Jordan Weber, another of the 2023 Soros Arts Fellows, said he was thrilled to be part of the group because the foundation works hard to support art that creates direct action, rather than simply “talking about the problems in our communities.” “Individuals who are implementing arts that are really effective, they’re treating the cause of the problem,” said Weber, who will plant an acre of conifer trees in Detroit as part of a remediation project to counter pollution from nearby factories producing automobiles, while also engaging the community to enjoy the open space and learn about environmental justice. Soros and its Open Society initiative is supporting a global commons, and that is precisely what it takes to change the world.” ___ The 2023 Soros Art Fellows are: Bilia Bah, of Guinea; Cannupa Hanska Luger, of the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, and Lakota tribes in the United States; Carolina Caycedo, of Colombia and the United States; Chemi Rosado-Seijo, of Puerto Rico; Dalton Paula, of Brazil; Deborah Jack, of St. Maarten; Fehras Publishing Practices, the collective of Kenan Darwich and Sami Rustom, both from Syria and based in Germany; Ixchel Tonāntzin Xōchitlzihuatl, of the United States; Jordan Weber, of the United States; Martha Atienza, of the Philippines; Molemo Moiloa, of South Africa; Mónica de Miranda, of Portugal; Nida Sinnokrot, of Palestine; Omar Berrada, of Morocco; Rijin Sahakian, of Iraq and the United States; Sari Dennise, of Mexico; Yto Barrada, of Morocco.