ACT Labs platform launch

We’re proud to announce the launch of ACT Labs, our open platform promoting human rights innovation.

Labs are our unique events that explore the intersection of human rights, art and technology, and develop a range of solutions. We have run Labs on issues ranging from women’s rights, freedom of speech, LGBTQ+ rights, environmental protection, to the shrinking space for civil society.

In Labs, teams of artists and technologists work together over a weekend to prototype ideas that raise awareness or provide solutions for a specific social justice problem. The resulting ideas contribute to flipping the narrative on these issues.

Now we’re democratising the format so that anyone who wishes to explore this approach can do so. We provide the step-by-step guidelines and support on how to organize your own ACT Labs, and use technology and art for social change.

If you’re interested in organising an event in your city, see how at actlabs.co. You can apply to host our own ACT Labs on an issue of your choice or you can browse the many ideas already generated during past ACT Labs editions.

Heading to Mexico to talk Aesthetic Warfare

We are heading to Mexico!

At the Human Rights Funders Annual Meeting our co-founder and Executive Director Yana Buhrer Tavanier will be talking about Aesthetic Warfare, giving a crash course on how images, interfaces, memes, games and maps are shaping the way we perceive and operate in reality, how this visual content is being manipulated and hacked to influence our behaviour and how we can use the same aesthetics as a weapon to fight back.

A big thank you to our advisory board member Arthur Steiner/Hivos for the invitation, and to the brilliant Nishant Shah and Gabriella Gómez-Mont for the collaboration. Stay tuned, as a new project is in the making.

Project Light is on!

We launched Project Light – a global art campaign for the right to sight, which we do in collaboration with Peek Vision. The campaign aims to increase public understanding, engagement and support for the right to sight. 36 million people in the world are blind, three quarters of them – from preventable or curable conditions.

We believe that everyone, everywhere, deserves access to good vision.

On 28 September, we opened in London a contemporary art exhibition called Shared Vision, which displays works across disciplines and mediums from sighted, partially-sighted and blind artists. el Seed, Rachel Gadsden, Sarah Sandman, Mark Haddon, and Sammy Baloji are among the renowned commissioned artists participating in Shared Vision.

Ultimately, over the next three years, our goal is to mobilise multiple contemporary artists from around the world, and tens of thousands of people, to contribute and push for change.

By raising global awareness, we aim to drive local action and influence policy makers to provide basic eye care for their citizens. Nobody should become or remain visually impaired when this can be prevented or cured.

Want to take action? See here how you can do this.

Fine Acts at the 2018 Fundamental Rights Forum

Fine Acts was invited to take part in the EU’s Fundamental Rights Forum, organized by the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency. Over three days, from 25 September, the forum opened its doors to over 600 participants. There were over 50 live sessions, five working groups, plenary panel debates, arts-related events, a virtual zone and sports activities.

Fine Acts’ Campaign Director Svetla Baeva took part in two panel discussions on the role of arts in human rights campaign work. She led and moderated the panel on the role of arts in elucidating issues and (re)shaping public perceptions. Panel participants included Andrea Kuhn, Director of the Nuremberg International Human Rights Film Festival, Elio Germani, photographer, Marina Satti, musician, and Vicente Rodriguez Fernandez, Vice-President of TernYpe.

Jumping head first into the TED Residency

Hey hey! I have been named a 2018 TED Resident and will be spending the rest of the year in the glorious TED office in NYC, researching human rights innovation, and giving a TED talk at the end. I am thrilled to be reuniting with my TED family (I am also a TED Senior Fellow and that will be my fourth talk on a TED stage – which doesn’t make it less exciting or nerve wracking though).

A big thank you to the TED Residency engines Katrina Conanan and Cyndi Stivers for embracing and supporting me. Look at the incredible group of people I will be joining!

- Yana

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