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Creativity Jijiji
Creativity Jijiji: "Conversations about creativity"
This podcast amplifies the voices of our true leaders—the artists. Writers, composers, producers, singers, actors, and poets show us new ways to see ourselves and the world around us. They illuminate the invisible threads that connect us, revealing the deep ties of our shared humanity.
At a time when we must come together as citizens of a small and fragile planet, the voices of artists matter more than ever.
Creativity Jijiji goes beyond the spotlight to explore the mysteries of creativity—where it comes from, why it moves us, and how it shapes our world.
Join us as we listen, learn, and celebrate the creative minds guiding us into the future.
Creativity Jijiji
Artists Leading the Charge for Change
What if a simple walk up a creaky staircase could alter your perception of art forever? Join us as we journey to Johannesburg, South Africa, where a teenage encounter with the Phoenix Players and the legendary playwright Athol Fugard planted the seeds of a lifelong understanding of art's power to catalyze social change. We'll recount those youthful days filled with musty old buildings, spirited rehearsals, and life-changing lessons that continue to shape our perspective on activism and the arts.
Dive deep into the transformative role art has played in pivotal social movements, from the stirring protest songs of the civil rights era to the provocative feminist pieces by Judy Chicago and the Gorrilla Girls. Discover how the LGBTQ+ community, Black Lives Matter, and climate change activists use artistic expression to fight for justice and policy reforms. With today's digital tools, artists have more ways than ever to spread their messages globally, proving that art remains an indomitable force for change in our hyper-political world. Tune in for a profound exploration of how creativity can inspire and enact societal transformation.
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We're going to begin here. A long time ago, a long time ago, I walked up a flight of stairs into a Hattiesburg, south Africa. I was a kid, I mean I was a teenager. My father was stationed there to the American consulate and I went to Johannesburg full of a sense of adventure, wanted to see some of the new world, and I made some contacts and made some friends and I ended up walking up this flight of stairs Drawn to some shouts of music. I heard heard the top of the stairs bouncing around the hallway. It's an old building, probably long gone by now, but the memories are sharp, precise. I mean it's 50 years ago and I can still smell the whiff of must, this musty old smell in the hallway and the wooden floors kind of creaking as I went along and the dirty panes of frosted glass on the office doors as I walked down the hallway, and the black and white photos on the walls of singers and actors and playwrights, magic people. They seem to me One stops me in my track the playwright Athol Fogart, and this is actually his theater company. To tell you the truth, I don't actually meet Athol there to meet a guy called Barney Simon. The building is called the Dorquet House and on the second floor are the offices in the rehearsal space of the Phoenix Players. I'm a teenager, I'm a kid, I'm naive, I'm always naive, always have been, always will be. But I'm about to open the door to this rehearsal and meet the cast and the band. I can hear performing on the other side of the door. But, more than anything, I'm about to get a life lesson. Maybe I'm not going to say the biggest, but the lesson that really changed me fundamentally until this day. And I got it there in that building in Johannesburg, south Africa, 50 years ago. Air GGG with Chris Maciel.
Speaker 1:What I'm talking about here is how do the arts influence political change? It's important. We live in this era of hyper-politics and the arts are being squashed. But they're always being squashed, and they're always being squashed for the same reason.
Speaker 1:Look, some of the most significant social movements have relied on the arts as a driving force. I mean, back in the civil rights movements there were protest songs like Blowing in the Wind and Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit. They were not just forms of expression but anthems of change. Masters of War drove millions to the street. Masters of War still has much value and punch and emotional. Just wow, the Fight for Women's Rights. Feminist art challenge by artists like Judy Chicago and the Gorrilla Girls. They talk about the marginalization of women in the art world and beyond, using their platforms to advocate social justice. The LGBTQ plus movement has also seen beacons of visibility and acceptance from the early days of the Stonewall Riots, today's pride celebrations which take over whole towns and neighborhoods. It's all about making marginalized identities visible and pushing for societal change. Right?
Speaker 1:Art is just as much of a vital tool for political activism. I kind of feel like we're being squeezed here with all this artificial intelligence, but I'm not sure, really, that it's ultimately going to matter to real arts. Look, movements like the BLM, black Lives Matter. They were heavily influenced by art. Murals, digital art, protest signs, painting in the street it all is done by artists and it is all powering political movements. Climate change how about that? Art is being used to raise awareness and inspire action, from eco-art installations to performance pieces that highlight environmental degradation. Artists use their talents to advocate for ecological justice and urge policy changes.
Speaker 1:The digital age has opened up these new avenues for artists to blend their work with activism. Social media platforms have allowed artists to reach a global audience instantly. I mean it's pretty amazing. It's sort of like a magic time. As much as it's a pain in the ass, as much as it's killing us, it's also loving us. Us. It's also loving us. Memes, viral videos, online art campaigns, modern day pamphlets they're the equivalent of spreading messages of protests. It's a two-way street, because the rising tide of disinformation is building fires of fear and hate. Right, I mean, it's full of it. There's so much hate but there's so much love, and I already went to Vegas and I placed a bet on what I think is going to win.
Speaker 1:One of the most powerful aspects of art is the ability to create dialogue. Art can break down barriers and foster empathy across political divides. When people engage with art, they think critically about issues, making it a valuable tool for creating awareness and encouraging conversations about complex subjects. Art also serves as a bellwether for freedom. When books are banned, freedom is less, and when books are not banned, that's when we know our freedom is not threatened. What I'm hearing in the hallways of that old building in Johannesburg years ago is a group called the Phoenix Players the Phoenix Players, and they're practicing a new musical called Peary. It's a retelling of Ben Johnson's Volponi, but it's much more than that.
Speaker 1:Despite its power, the role of art as a political force is not without its challenges. I mean, one issue is the commercialization of art. As art becomes commodified, its political impact is diminished. And when art is created for profit, it can lose its edge. It's message diluted by the pressures of the marketplace, the sponsors. When people give you money for your art, they want a say in your art.
Speaker 1:We're in the age of monetization and it's gutted art. I mean. The price for our digital convenience is pretty steep. I mean, in the digital age, algorithms on social media platforms and search engines. You know what they're doing. They're controlling what art and political messages people see. It's like an invisible block lord, throttling some opinions and blowing up others. As people see, it's like an invisible block lord throttling some opinions and blowing up others. And we live in this incredible echo chamber where only certain types of arts and viewpoints are visible, limiting the broader political impact art can have.
Speaker 1:Art scares power. It's provocative and nasty. It's hard to control, but the control tools are sharper and more precise Than they've ever been and they are in the hands of a fast-moving crowd of Shadowy, billionaire digerati. And those digerati Want control for wealth. Censorship is a challenge and those digerati want control for wealth. Censorship is a challenge, I mean.
Speaker 1:During political tensions, such as the current status of the United States, governments and corporations suppress art, which challenges the status quo. I wonder how much suppression of art is going on. I think a lot actually. I think of art is going on. I think a lot actually. I think a lot is going on. Plus, I think AI might be an attempt to control art ultimately. I mean, who owns that art and who's actually creating that art? You know, if you sit back and say like, oh, it's just random algorithms that have swept across the internet and are now remixing all art ever, yeah, that's true, but art still has power, even when it's artificially created like that. So what's the deal? Who's in charge of this AI art? Because it's not the people who think it is, it's not the randos kind of going on to AI platforms and writing a little prompt and getting something back and saying I made that. Yeah, you didn't make it. And what's the motive of who made it? I'm not sure random motives really stand up to the test. What do you think really stand up to the test? What do you think?
Speaker 1:Listen, the arts are a potent force for political and social change, and I don't expect that to go away, no matter how many billionaires try to control us. From historical revolutions to modern day movements, art is a means of protest, a source of inspiration and a vehicle for dialogue as we continue to navigate the complex political landscapes. The power of creativity to influence and reflect societal change is not only vital. Societal change is not only vital, but absolutely critical to the future of humanity. Artists hold the future of humanity in their hands, you know, and disrupting art is going to prove impossible, no matter how powerful these Ditterati lords believe they are. You can never get ahead of an artist in solitude creating a masterpiece. Whether through painting or song or performance or digital media, the arts will always have the potential to shape the world and they will always ultimately shape humanity In profound and fundamental ways Much deeper than any technology or any manifestation that is physical exists, because art doesn't work in the real world.
Speaker 1:It works in the spirit. How do you think when you walk through a museum? How do you think? Where do these emotions come from? You can't see them. There's just canvas on the wall with some pigment thrown on there, but somehow it goes across and it creates an emotional shape that captures you and spins your soul in a vortex that is beyond anything that will ever be created. There is no singularity in the digital world. They hope to get it. It's not going to be. It's just going to be an artificial, complete sort of knowledge base. But it's never really been about the knowledge base. If you think about the history of humanity, the same fundamental truths that were in place, the same ethics, the same base. If you think about the history of humanity, the same fundamental truths that were in place, the same ethics, the same decisions about what is the best of our humanity have been in place since the beginning. It hasn't evolved. It's because the truth doesn't evolve. The truth of our humanity doesn't evolve. It's always been the same. It's not that we've evolved into a new place and now we can have some kind of fancy, sci-fi singularity. Wake up. Not only is it not possible, but it's not even necessary.
Speaker 1:I got all involved in this show in South Africa Period With the Phoenix Players Because I was white a teenager, yes, but a white guy with a diplomatic passport, which was like magic, a key to magic in Johannesburg and South Africa during the height of the apartheid era I could go anywhere and these guys asked me to help and I did. They sent me all over the place and I was able to get to places they couldn't get. And I did. They sent me all over the place and I was able to get to places they couldn't get because I could just go in. I could go in and out of the townships, which were restricted access areas, but I could get in there. I was sort of like above the law and I used it for good. I used it to help these African artists get their music out. We toured all around the townships. I'm like 18 years old and I'm dropped into this world. I mean it was stunning.
Speaker 1:The first time I saw the production of Piri performed in an African township, I was like nailed to the wall in awe of what I was seeing. It was incredible. Great oppression always creates great art. You know that's just a known thing. If you look at the blues and you look at African music, you look at any Irish music, anywhere where there was incredible oppression, you will find an amazing literary scene, and Johannesburg in the apartheid era was no different. We toured around Piri. As I say, it was based on a Ben Johnson play Volponi. But it wasn't really about that. It was really about the oppression of the apartheid regime.
Speaker 1:And when we got to Johannesburg, finally, and did our premiere to a white audience, and did our premiere to a white audience, which we had gotten permission to do, we had an opening night and it was incredible. The energy that came off the stage was just transforming, riveting, opened our hearts. We watched this amazing performance, probably one of the greatest performances I have ever seen in the last 50 years. This was back there when I was a teenager, working on the show period. The next morning I opened the paper Rave reviews, rave reviews. Except that the critics said it was a great piece of subversive art.
Speaker 1:And when the Afrikaner government saw that, they closed the show. We never performed again. It was gone. One night it was gone. This magic, this incredible piece of art was gone One night it was gone. This magic, this incredible piece of art was gone. Didn't matter. They tried to drop a jackboot on the neck of African arts in the apartheid regime. It didn't matter, because in the end the fascists were gathered up and thrown into the sea, and art was a big part of that. I always expected there would be a bloodbath. In Johannesburg, cape Town, durban, pretoria. I didn't see there was any future for the apartheid regime there never is in situations like that but but the flames of freedom were kept alive in the townships by the arts. Art is a political force. How do the arts influence political change and why would the arts want to be suppressed? Because that's going on and that's what I feel.
Speaker 1:This is Air Jijiji, which is a podcast that comes out of Studio Jijiji, and we're on here every week talking about all the stuff in the creative industry, and I'm going to get into talking a little bit about the business too, because I've got a lot of experience on that side of the business, as well as being a writer and a composer. My name is Chris McHale and please subscribe, go to our YouTube channel, join up, go to our website. When you go to the website, go to the blog. When you go to the blog, look up a story called the Lost Musical. The Lost Musical, and that's the full story of what I've been talking about the musical Piri that I worked on many, many years ago in Johannesburg, south Africa. Thank you so much for listening and we'll see you next week.
