Social Art Practice For A Post-Pandemic World

Brick by Brick and Loaf by Loaf We Build Ourselves. Photo: Homebaked Community Land Trust (CLT)

Mission Statement:

‘Beyond the Now’ is a syndicated social practice platform, founded by partners based and working in locations across the globe, which aims to open up new creative, cultural and political affinities for a post-pandemic world.

Our Aims

  • Build a dialogue between everyday sensibilities and perspectives, disciplines and ways of working;
  • Creatively juxtapose and redistribute contributions to this platform with the aim of forging unlikely allies and alliances;
  • Re-imagine the social and socially-engaged art in the light of the current crisis;
  • Learn from organic responses of solidarity that have sprung up from communities of place and interest in the context of COVID-19.

This Platform

invites voices from diverse sectors and communities to explore, share ideas and creatively reflect on the questions:

  • What narratives, mechanisms and tools might we use to navigate the uncertainties of the present?
  • Where and what is the social, in a post-pandemic world?
  • How is social justice to be realised beyond the now?

Contributions

The covid-19 global pandemic has challenged what it means to have a socially engaged practice. With restrictions on movement and physical proximity in effect – and heightened activism around racial injustice – creative practitioners, activists, civil society organisations and other actors are reimagining what community, resilience and social justice looks like in this new reality.

The contributions to Beyond the Now address the immediate effects of the pandemic on our shared understanding of social art practice, and the necessity for and experience of solidarity in a time of crisis.

All contributions are shared under a creative commons CC BY-NC-ND license. The posts are syndicated to the partners in this platform, so that contributions are visible across various international networks.

Tania El Khoury and Basel Zaraa, As Far As Isolation Goes - Installation and Performance, London, 2019. Photo: Marcia Chandra

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@Beyond_the_Now

‘Beyond the Now’ is a syndicated social practice platform, founded by partners based and working in locations across the globe, which aims to open up new creative, cultural and political affinities for a post-pandemic world.

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Contribution Translation

Please add translation

Multimedia Requirements

Header Image

One Image: 2560px x 1440px (or bigger) – Max file size 7MB

Profile Picture

Square Image: 500px x 500px (or bigger) – Max file size 5MB

Pictures in Contribution

Minimum 600px wide – Max file size 5MB

Videos

Uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo

Audio

Uploaded to Soundcloud

Contribution Guidelines

‘Beyond the Now’ aims for an accessible written style. It is not an academic journal and the written contributions may include first person accounts and reflections. 

Contributions should be approximately 500-1000 words in length. 

Where the content of the submission involves theoretical or other specialist content, please aim as much as possible for exposition that will be accessible to a general reader (i.e. across academic disciplines and to non-academics). 

The language of the site is English (UK spelling). Please use ‘z’ spelling for words ending in ‘-ize’, ‘-ization’ (Example: organize, organization). Alternative spellings in quoted material, book and article titles should not be changed, however. 

Referencing should be included in the MLA format: MLA Citation Guide

References to webpages may be included as hyperlinks. 

For Written Submissions

Please clearly indicate the title of the submission and provide, if possible, an image to accompany it with required acknowledgement / permission for use. 

Please provide any social media or other contact details that you would like included with the piece when it is published. 

For Multimedia Submissions

Please provide a title for the piece and a short (50 word) outline of content for publication.  

If possible, please provide a still from the video for use on the ‘Beyond the Now’ site. 

Please provide any social media or other contact details that you would like included with the piece when it is published. 

Style Guidelines

Author Biography

The Bio should be 100-150 words long to ensure a standard appearance across the site  (100 words minimum and 150 words maximum).

For Titles

Please capitalise each of the main words of the title. Avoid using capitals throughout. (e.g. ‘Beyond the Now’ is good. Not ‘BEYOND THE NOW’ or ‘Beyond the now’ unless there is a compelling reason)

For Subtitles

Subtitles must be consistent across the publication. Please do not underline subtitles.

Main Body

Please use single spacing throughout. Do not include text in bold (except for subtitles).
Where the content of the submission involves theoretical or other specialist content, please aim as much as possible for exposition that will be accessible to a general reader (i.e. across academic disciplines and to non-academics).

The language of the site is English (UK spelling). Please use ‘z’ spelling for words ending in ‘-ize’, ‘-ization’ (Example: organize, organization). Alternative spellings in quoted material, book and article titles should not be changed, however.

Captions for Images

Please follow this format when including captions for images. Not every image will need all of these entries. Select those that are required and use the order indicated:
  • Artist / Image title /  date / photo credit.
Alternatively, for images that are not artworks:
  • Image caption / photo credit.