To mark the New Year Stance Takes is back with a special programme celebrating a new book Forces of Art which champions the work of artists and arts organisations across the world. We travel to the Choco region of Colombia to look at the work of Más Arte más Acción, who are using art and the rainforest to innovate change. We cover Syrian artists in exile displaced after a decade of war and revolution to explore how it has redefined their lives and artistic practice. In Central Asia we discuss how successive generations of post-soviet creatives are forging new artistic space in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. And finally, we hear from Queer poets in Uganda and Kenya on how they’re thriving despite living in societies virulently hostile to their very identities. Forces Of Art: Perspectives from a Changing World takes the reader on a dizzying journey across the globe with the analysis of more than 30 researchers given free rein to write about the radical role art plays in societal change.

Made in collaboration with The European Cultural Foundation, The Prince Claus Fund, Hivos and Valiz.

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