Fine Acts Labs gathers disrupters from the CEE region

Illustration: Rozalina Burkova

Our latest Labs edition took place in Sofia, Bulgaria (7-11 June 2018) and focused on the threats to democracy and civil rights in Europe, and the shrinking space for civil society in the region.

For this event, we selected 24 outstanding fellows from Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Romania, out of over 130 applications. The focus on these countries is intentional as they are places in Europe where governments are increasingly cracking down on organisations that promote democracy and defend human rights.

The teams worked together for three days to generate new, concrete ideas to move the human rights agenda forward in the region and beyond.

They were supported by prominent human rights activists such as John Dalhuisen, former Director of Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Asia Programme, and Todor Gardos, Eastern Europe and Balkans Researcher at Human Rights Watch, as well as a number of leading marketing, campaigning, art and technology experts.

The winning team, Weronika Jurkiewicz and Michal Szota, both from Poland, proposed the creation of a board game where the goal is to “put yourself in the shoes of a dictator and suppress, take over, and shut down” as many civil society organizations as possible. The game will be produced by Fine Acts in collaboration with the team, and will launch in 2019.

See all project ideas here, which are open for use and adaptation!

See the full photo gallery from the event.

If you’re interested in organising an event in your city, see how at actlabs.co.

Fine Acts Labs (now ACT Labs) are unique events that explore the intersection of human rights, art and technology, and develop a range of solutions - from immersive, participatory art pieces to apps with a strong art component. By communicating human rights issues in new, unexpected ways, we seek new avenues to inspire action and attract support.

Fine Acts co-founder awarded the inaugural Obama Scholarship

The President Barak Obama and the Obama Foundation Scholars at Columbia University and the University of Chicago.

Michelle Obama and the Obama Foundation Scholars at Columbia University (our very own Pavel is third from the right).

We are so PROUD. Our co-founder Pavel Kounchev has been named one of the twelve inaugural Obama Scholars for his work inspiring civic engagement. It was an ultra-competitive thing, and he got it, and now will be spending the next year at Columbia University in New York, studying, collaborating and creating tangible solutions to real-world issues.

The first class of Obama Foundation Scholars at Columbia University features an accomplished group of 12 rising social change-makers from around the world. Consistent with the Obama Foundation’s mission to inspire, empower, and connect the next generation of civic leaders, the new, year-long academic program based at Columbia will strengthen the expertise and knowledge of individuals with the demonstrated ability to be transformative leaders in their communities, nations, and the world.

See highlights from Pavel’s first meeting with President Obama.

Our social experiment reveals a chilling truth about domestic violence

How long does it take for neighbours to respond to beating sounds?

This is a real social experiment. No part of it has been staged.

Beat. explores the ominous silence surrounding domestic violence. The video is a prompt to societies that react to any loud noise, as long as it is not caused by a domestic dispute or abuse.

“In many post-communist societies, and beyond, it is common for neighbours to react to any loud noise, as long as it is not related to a domestic dispute or abuse – as domestic violence is seen as a “private matter”, says Yana Buhrer Tavanier, Director of Fine Acts.

Beat. is a project by Maksim Stoimenov (drummer) and Peruna Keremidchieva (developer), produced by Fine Acts. It is the winner of our first Act Lab - unique events that explore the intersection of human rights, art and technology.

“Abuse thrives in silence and we can end it only by pointing it out and talking about it,” say Stoimenov and Keremidchieva. “We played with the idea that people will react to loud music, but will shy away from taking any action when it comes to the sound of domestic abuse. The experiment shines a light on us as a society and gives us the space to reflect on how we would act.”

The video has already been seen over 200 000 times.

Watch, learn more and see how to get involved.

23 reasons to end violence against women

Photo: Yana Lozeva

The names of 23 women, murdered by their partners or relatives, are projected onto the Parliament building in Sofia, Bulgaria.

23 reasons is an art action, conceptualized by Fine Acts for the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, that urged Bulgarian Parliament to ratify an important treaty opposing violence against women.

The debate was being kidnapped by absurd arguments, so we recaptured the narrative by projecting the names of 23 women murdered by their partners on the Parliament building, on the night before a crucial vote on January 23, 2018.

Since then the image became iconic, and is the go-to photo of traditional and online media alike, when discussing brutal violence against women.

The 23 women are only a small fraction of all of those who have lost their lives at the hands of a partner or relative in the last five years in Bulgaria. Recent murders of women shed a light on serious gaps in Bulgarian legislation and its implementation. Every fourth woman in the country is a victim of domestic violence.

The action was part of a campaign for the ratification of the convention, supported by over 200 organizations in Bulgaria.

The action was carried out with the support of one of our valued ACT Labs participants, Vladislav Iliev, co-founder of Phormatik Visual Lab.

Yana’s latest TED talk gets published online

Some time ago Tech Insider published a piece about our co-founder’s latest TED talk, her story and what we at Fine Acts are trying to do, calling it “one of the most chilling TED Talks of all time”.

Now Yana’s talk is online and you can watch it!

Fine Acts Labs takes on climate change, LGBTQ+ rights and media freedom

Illustration: Borislava Willnevermadeit

In less than six months, we organised a second Fine Acts Labs edition, our innovative format that we call hack-art-athon. The event brought together 12 multidisciplinary teams of artists and technologists for an intense weekend of collaboration on issues such as LGBTQ+ rights, climate change and pollution and media freedom.

The format resulted in engaging art & tech project ideas that raise awareness or contribute to solving a concrete problem.

The project that won the jury’s support was Fakery (to be launched in May 2019), led by technologist Ivan Shulev and artist Iliyana Kancheva. Their project addresses the rising concern with fake news and disinformation.

See all project ideas here, which are open for use and adaptation!

See the full photo gallery from the event.

If you’re interested in organising an event in your city, see how at actlabs.co.

Fine Acts Labs (now ACT Labs) are unique events that explore the intersection of human rights, art and technology, and develop a range of solutions - from immersive, participatory art pieces to apps with a strong art component. By communicating human rights issues in new, unexpected ways, we seek new avenues to inspire action and attract support.

Fine Acts invited to attend the inaugural Obama Summit

We are thrilled to share that our co-founder and Executive Director Yana Buhrer Tavanier has been invited to join President and Mrs. Obama in Chicago later this Fall, for the inaugural Obama Summit!

The Obama Foundation has invited civic leaders from around the world to come together to exchange ideas and explore creative solutions to common problems.

We cannot wait for this incredible opportunity to connect with amazing people committed to creating positive change, get truly inspired and do more work that matters. 

Hello from TED Global!

Hello from TED Global! Yana is spending 10 days in beautiful Arusha, Tanzania, immersed in brilliance & passion & ideas, with a bunch of the Fine Acts collective members and advisors. 

We are already stirring up a few new and exciting collaborations. More news soon!  

Until then we leave you with this first fascinating talk from the conference, and this thought: "We are all already here, and that answers the question of whether or not we belong".

Photos: Bret Hartman & Ryan Lash, TED

Announcing: Fine Acts Labs

Fine Acts Labs Vol. 1

Photo: Kevork Vanlyan

We are thrilled to announce our new initiative - Fine Acts Labs!

Fine Acts Labs is an innovative format (we call a hack-art-athon) that invites activists, artists and technologists to work together and prototype art & tech projects that raise awareness or contribute to a concrete solution.

Supported by mentors, teams of artists and technologists work together over a weekend. A jury then awards the best ideas with funds for further development. 

By communicating human rights issues in new, unexpected ways, we seek new avenues to inspire action and attract support.

The pilot event took place on 14-16 July 2017 in Sofia, Bulgaria, and was dedicated to women’s rights. Read all about the first edition here!

Want us to organise a lab in your city? Drop us a line at hello@fineacts.co.

Fine Acts presents work at the UN

Last week we had the honour and privilege to talk at the United Nations headquarters in NYC, presenting our work of bridging human rights and art to instigate social change.

Fine Acts represent!

This happened in the context of the 10th session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Here our co-founder Yana is addressing the Civil Society CRPD Forum, in a session moderated by Michel Servoz, Director-General of Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission.

A massive thank you to our awesome partner, the Bulgarian Center for Not-for-profit Law, and the Permanent Mission of Bulgaria to the UN, for the invitation.

Fine Acts presents at Creative Mornings Sofia

We were so excited to meet the early birds in Sofia at the emblematic Creative Mornings series, to get inspired by the global theme BEYOND, and talk about the intersection of art and human rights as a place where magic happens.

Watch the talk here.

- Yana and Ana

Photo: Yana Lozeva

These pop-up sculptures reclaim public space for women

Photo: Mihail Novakov

On Wednesday morning Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, woke to a surprise – seven sculptures have popped up across its center. The sculptures are a result of an art intervention protesting the lack of women’s monuments in the city.

Photo: Mihail Novakov

MONUMENT #1 is a series of sculptures by the Bulgarian artist and designer Erka, created in collaboration with Fine Acts. The work seeks to raise awareness about the lack of monuments honouring notable women in Bulgaria - a EU member state.

According to official data from the Sofia municipality, there are no monuments of women historical figures in the city, and less than 6% of all memorials (most of which plaques) are dedicated to women. None of Sofia's existing memorials commemorate important events for the women's rights movement at the beginning of the 20th century.

The brightly-coloured busts were placed at some of the most central locations across Sofia during a covert early-morning action on Wednesday, March 22.

Photo: Mihail Novakov

For this art intervention Fine Acts teamed up with the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC), the country’s leading human rights group, and got the support of the ad agency Tribal Worldwide Sofia.

Photo: Mihail Novakov

“The key point of the intervention is to reclaim public space. Public space, much like history, belongs to women too - this is why we want to assert our rightful place. In Bulgaria’s past there are many incredible, inspiring women, but their accomplishments are erased from public memory.”

“The sculptures are a portrait of me. I wanted to take a strong personal, public stance as a contemporary woman and artist and say - enough. However, they are also anonymous, as they do not bear my name, just a sign: “The first monument of a woman in Sofia”. In these sculptures I am every woman. With this work I want to give women what they are entitled to but have been denied for decades - a place, visibility and recognition”, says the artist.

Photo: Mihail Novakov

“Our mission is to bring together activists and artists from across the globe to work on collaborative art projects that instigate social change. What we observed in Sofia for just a couple of days was an art intervention that shone a spotlight on a problem that somehow remained unquestioned for decades, stirring up a huge public debate and getting thousands of people engaged”, says Fine Acts’ Co-founder and Director Yana Buhrer Tavanier.  

The problem with women-free public space is not reserved to Bulgaria.

Currently UK’s Invisible Women campaign aims to challenge the staggering inequality in numbers of civic statues of women and men.

A recent campaign in New York protests the fact that presently there are no statues honoring real women in Central Park. Women are only represented in the park by statues of Alice in Wonderland or Mother Goose, as well as by angels, nymphs and allegorical figures. The campaign advocates placing a statue of women’s rights pioneers Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony in the park.

An edict passed by the Kreuzberg district in Berlin, Germany, requires that streets and public places be named for women until parity is reached with men, part of a longstanding debate over official efforts to undo entrenched gender roles in German society.

Photo: Mihail Novakov

“The lack of monuments, honouring historic women, enhances the wrong perception that women have no valuable accomplishments or that they have not contributed to the development of society”, says Svetla Baeva, Campaign Director at the BHC.

The seven sculptures are to be exhibited at a prominent Sofia gallery in April, and later auctioned. All proceeds will go towards funding the placing of the first monument dedicated to a woman in Sofia.  

Citizens are invited to sign a petition, addressed to the Sofia municipality, demanding the adoption of a strategy for closing the gender gap in public sculpture in the city. Hundreds have already supported the call to honor women who have contributed to development of the city and country. An ongoing poll is collecting information on the public’s favourite for the first monument.

Photo: Mihail Novakov

Photo: Mihail Novakov

Our work is selected as finalist in Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards

Photo: John Wadsworth

Our project The Future just got selected as finalist in Fast Company’s premiere World Changing Ideas Awards!

The awards honor projects and concepts that offer innovative solutions to the issues facing humanity. A panel of 25 expert judges combed through more than 1,200 entries from around the world to find the most innovative ideas to make the world better.

The Future is an ongoing work by Alicia Eggert and Safwat Saleem, commissioned by and created in collaboration with Fine Acts. It is a series of data-driven sculptures that illuminate critical human rights issues affecting people around the world.

Our work is one of ten finalists in the Photography/Visualization category of the World Changing Ideas Awards, and is also highlighted in the April issue of the print Fast Company magazine.

Yay!

See more about the work here and here.

- Yana

Fine Acts joins the YTILI network

Thrilled to share that Ana has been named a 2017 YTILI Fellow.

YTILI (Young Transatlantic Innovation Leaders Initiative) is a program of the U.S. Department of State in partnership with the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Looking forward to new transatlantic opportunities for Fine Acts.

- Yana

Fine Acts selected as one of 50 ideas for Europe, by the European Cultural Foundation

We are super excited that Fine Acts was selected as one of 50 ideas for Europe, by the European Cultural Foundation.

With its focus on “Moving Communities”, the 2017 Idea Camp follows an open call for "daring ideas to build societies with greater equality, sustainability and solidarity, and a stronger sense of social justice". 

We are spending the week in Madrid with a group of inspiring individuals, aiming to challenge anti-democratic practices and amplify voices excluded from the public debate.

Yana

Sign up to be alerted when Migration Watch begins

You can now sign up to be alerted when Migration Watch begins.

Alison Killing’s Migration Watch tells the story of the refugees’ and migrants’ journeys and takes a closer look at the issues behind events that are still unfolding.

Bringing together real human stories, new writing, immersive data visualisations, and academic research, Migration Watch is a '10-day real-time' interactive documentary, following the fortunes of ten refugees travelling to and through Europe, in search of a better life.

Migration Watch allows you to:

• Trace the routes travelled by millions.
• Accompany one of ten characters on their journey, written exclusively for the project by writers from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Libya.
• Listen to a daily podcast to hear the experiences of migrants and refugees in their own words; plus insights from aid workers, volunteers, local government officials and policy makers, and analysis of the deeper causes of this ‘crisis’.

Yana

Fine Acts recognized by the Royal Society of Arts

Photo: C. G. P. Grey

The Royal Society of Arts (RSA) recognized Fine Acts by just naming Yana as Fellow!

UPDATE 2018: the other two Fine Acts co-founders, Pavel and Julie, are now Fellows of the RSA too!

Being awarded a Fellowship is considered an honour, as fellows must have demonstrated “a high level of achievement related to the arts, manufactures and commerce.”

The RSA is a British organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. Founded back in 1754, it was granted a Royal Charter in 1847. Charles Dickens, Benjamin Franklin, Karl Marx, Stephen Hawking and Tim Berners-Lee are some of the most notable past and present Fellows. 

The Future goes to Dallas Aurora

Photo: Dallas Aurora

The Future, a series of data-driven sculptures by Alicia Eggert and Safwat Saleem, in collaboration with Fine Acts, is currently on display at the glorious Dallas Aurora. For the first time, there we are showing three sculptures that illuminate the overall state of peace, death penalty and marriage equality around the world.

The word "future" is written in Mandarin, Hindi and English using lightbulbs representing every sovereign state. The lights are lit for countries at peace, who allow same sex marriage and who have dropped the death penalty. The number of light bulbs suspended in the air corresponds to the total number of bulbs that remain unlit on all three signs, representing the potential for a brighter and more peaceful future.

Go and see the work if you are around!

Yana

Photo: Mike Fleming

Photo: Mike Fleming

Photo: Mike Fleming

Building The Future

The Future in Hindi, with a chop saw for scale. Photo: Alicia Eggert

With Dallas Aurora approaching fast, Alicia is busy building The Future.

In Texas we are exhibiting not one, not two, but three sculptures! The Future #1 that premiered at TED2015 was focusing on conflicts around the world. The works we are showing in a little over a week illuminate the overall state of peace, death penalty and marriage equality around the world.

Yana

Alicia: “I am so so grateful for my two assistants, Michelle and Brandon, who have been working overtime for me the past few weeks, and to everyone else who's volunteered their time to make The Future a reality. It looks like I might actually get everything done for @dallasaurora next weekend”. Photo: Alicia Eggert

One of three light bulb signs for @dallasaurora, with Brandon and Michelle for scale. You can see it at the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas this weekend. Private tour on Saturday at 7pm. Photo: Alicia Eggert

Over a mile of wire and counting… Photo: Alicia Eggert

Electricity is a beautiful thing. Photo: Alicia Eggert

The Future is bright. Photo: Alicia Eggert

Fine Acts awarded Shuttleworth Foundation Flash Grant

We are thrilled to announce that Fine Acts was awarded a Shuttleworth Foundation Flash Grant.

The funds we received in May contribute to:

• seeding the production of new work;

• travel to meet existing and potential collaborators and partners;

• rebuilding and redesigning the website;

• web hosting;

• legal services.  

The Shuttleworth Foundation’s Flash Grants are awarded to a collection of social change agents, no strings attached, in support of their work. Each award is worth 5000$.

We are extremely grateful for the support that further fuelled our mission - to bridge human rights and art to catalyze social change.

Yana