Alienation, Art & Empowerment

On engagement

Community engagement is a term we often hear but rarely interrogate. However, if we break down the two words it is possible to both unpack its meaning and understand its importance.

The word community has roots in the Latin word communis, referring to things we have in common and share. It represents a group of people that share a commonality, whether it be their living area, interests, religion, or experiences.

Engagement, or to engage, is to be participating or becoming involved. The word’s etymology provides useful insights: from the early fifteenth century it refers to ‘a pledge’, with roots in the French word engagier, which represents a promise or an oath.

When placing these two words together, the notion of people coming together in a shared space that includes a promise to work together – to participate – emerges. It is participation that creates unity within a space.

It is through these concepts that we can understand the work of artists Zoe Xuji Edema and Xander Zee. They are co-directors of Muralisto, a co-design public art enterprise. Driven by an ethic of engagement, they work to promote community participation.

Muralisto facilitated a series of workshops with the local community from the Westmead Children’s Hospital to design three murals for the construction hoarding of the new innovation quarter in Westmead. Once the designs had been finalised through these workshops, Muralisto created the visions of the community.

Alienation and urban environments

While cities and urban environments are locations of innovation and opportunity, urban theorist Mark Davis (2006) has long argued that they can also be alienating and isolating. Alienation occurs because regulations are made by decision-makers far removed from the communities most impacted. This alienation then causes a sense of disempowerment.

Cities and suburbs are constantly evolving with new buildings, bridges and highways – when we no longer recognise our surroundings, it is easy for us to feel alienated and disconnected.

Muralisto aims to counter this.

Through their art practice, Muralisto creates a voice for the community in response to the many changes occurring around them. They confront alienation, isolation and disempowerment by collaboratively shaping public spaces. They use street art as place-makers, activating areas to embed art in the everyday. By co-designing artworks with the community, they focus on the identity and place of the area. This is how Muralisto transforms potentially alienating environments into inclusive spaces.

Empowerment and the threshold

Philosopher Martin Heidegger (1962) discusses the concept of the threshold moment – a moment that can occur in the everyday, that pushes the individual to a moment of disruption. Once you cross the threshold, you see the world differently. In the context of Muralisto, the threshold can be understood as the movement from a moment of alienation to empowerment. Through their street art projects, the urban environment is no longer an alienating space – it now has the community’s stamp of approval.

This is where Zoe and Xander’s murals at the innovation quarter in Westmead come into play. The murals are situated amid a building site, replete with loud construction, pollution, towering cranes, and disruptive trucks churning through the oppressive heat of a Sydney summer.

Walking through this area, the overwhelming sounds and dust make you feel like an alien in an unwelcoming landscape. To then stumble upon the colourful presence of a mural here creates a disruption that changes the way we think about the area.

This experience is a threshold moment. It is taking ownership of the landscape, creating an opportunity for the community to use mark-making practices to contribute to our experience of public space.

Art with purpose

Muralisto’s main objective is to create public art with purpose. This is how we can understand the many layers we see through these murals – they are not simply an expression of the artist’s interests, rather their content is sourced directly from the community. The workshops engage the community, creating the bind at the very source of the words, community engagement.

While Zoe and Xander paint the murals, they represent more than a personal artistic endeavour. Their practice captures the imagination of the community who are involved in the workshops and contribute to the design process. The murals are bright, colourful, and filled with shapes and imagery designed to connect with passers-by and activate their imagination, creating a sensory experience.

As Zoe states, “I think art you can have this interaction where you tap into your heart space or how you are really feeling or your nostalgia and maybe you see this artwork and it reminds you of ocean and you can smell the sea breeze.”

Each of the three murals captures the imaginations of the different workshop participants. For children, it’s about play. For adults, the shapes create a sense of nostalgia. For the unwell, it’s about safety.

More than a mural, the imagery turns an alienating building site into a place that engages the community.

Alix Beattie | February 2021

References

Davis, M. (2006). City of quartz: Excavating the future in Los Angeles. Pimlico.

Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and time, trans. J Macquarrie & E Robinson. Harper & Row. (Original work published 1927).