“Give a shit!”; a story on activism — 5 questions for Teresa Borasino
@Interactive Storytelling Meetup #6 –9 June 2016
Interview by Femke Deckers and Klasien van de Zandschulp
Teresa Borasino (Lima, based in Amsterdam) is an artist and activist working on environmental issues and social justice. She creates situations that allow for collective experiences and dialogue in public space. At Interactive Storytelling Meetup #6 she told us the story on how she got politicians to wipe their asses with science. In this interview we spoke with her about this act, the strength of combining art with activism and her newest project about fossil free culture.
1. What is the story of your project ‘Give a shit’?
“’Give a shit’ is an art and activism project. I organised this project as part of COP21 (COP21 is the annual climate yearly summit on climate change by UNFCCC). The last summit (December 2015) was a very important event, as the goal was to get to an agreement to reduce the CO2 emissions.”
“Before the conference started, all countries had to submit a pledge on what they would do to reduce CO2 emission in their country. Scientists analysed these pledges and evaluated them. If these pledges are implemented, we will have a global warming between 3 and 4 degrees Celsius. The IPCC publishes the most exhaustive and comprehensive scientific reports on climate change. We can read in this report, that scientists have agreed that we should limit global warming under 2 degrees. Beyond that threshold the world will become unliveable and catastrophic. This report serves as the scientific basis for politicians to negotiate about how to reduce CO2 emissions globally. But it seems that politicians are not following the facts and measures the IPCC report puts forward. The report serves as a basis to politicians to negotiate about the position on climate change. But it seems that politicians are not following this report.”
“So… I printed this IPCC report on toilet paper. I distributed 100 roles in the toilets of the summit in Paris, together with other activists and organisations who were accredited to visit the conference. We smuggled the toilet rolls inside the conference and placed them in the toilets to leave the message and to literally create the act that politicians wipe their ass with science. After our communal action it expanded and other organisations were using it by spreading the roles and using it to spread the story that politicians are not taking climate seriously.”
“Politicians wipe their ass with science”
2. What was your motivation to execute your project ‘Give a shit’, and what were the reactions of attendees and activists?
“The Urgenda case. The Urgenda Foundation sued the Dutch government because the government was not doing enough to reduce the CO2 emissions. The Urgenda Foundation won the case. The judge ruled that the government should indeed aim for more. But two months later the government decided to appeal the ruling of the court. In my opinion, this is completely insane.”
“This case and the knowledge about the IPCC report is when the idea and motivation to do this project started. I want to send a message to all the politicians in the world who are obstructing climate progresses and remind them of the important details from the IPCC report.”
“I executed this action in an unofficial way, I didn’t have a permit. I had to convince a lot of people to help me and do this together. I had to bring in the toilet paper roles one by one to not be noticed by security. So to be able to execute this project, I had to talk to a lot of people beforehand to see if they are interested to join and help.”
“The people that took part and saw the paper in the toilet were very enthusiastic and created their own message and shared this online through Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.”
3. Do you think when we become more creative in telling our stories through activism, we can achieve better results?
“Yeah definitely. I think so. Actions and protests are usually very boring and similar to each other. Like people shouting and using banners that always look similar. Activists hardly look for more creative ways to bring on a message or tell a story.”
“Activists hardly look for more creative ways to bring on a message or tell a story”
“I’m working on socially engaged art over 10 years now, to give more visibility to social problems or change situations. But usually these changes are very small or temporary. So I’ve always tried to make change happen with art. Since I started to work more in an activist way, this can have far more impact if you work in a more artistic and creative way.”
“Artists have the ability to trigger imagination. Artists can imagine how certain issues can change and how we can live differently. Activists, on the other hand, are far more strategic and are communicating in a very straightforward way, but they might lack the ability to trigger imagination. I think it’s very powerful to combine both these expertises as a movement.”
“I’ve always tried to make change happen with art. Since I work more in an activist way, it has a far more impact .”
4. How important is storytelling as part of your work in combining activism and art?
“I try not only to tell a story, but also to make a change happen. The toilet paper project is a symbolic action. But the people who took part or experienced this action did notice how stories and messages in activism can happen in a more creative way and more artistic. I tried to raise awareness by telling the story in a different way. But also, to make people part of a movement.”
“I tried to raise awareness by telling the story in a different way. But also, to make people part of a movement.”
5. In your presentation you shortly announced on a new activism project. Can you shortly describe the discussion you want to start with this project?
“We started a couple of months ago with a new collective project called Fossil Free Culture. With this project we want to raise awareness about the oil sponsorships of the cultural institution. For instance companies like Shell sponsor major museums in the Netherlands. Not because they like art or are socially responsible, but because through these relationships they obtain a social license to operate. They use museums to organise lobby events and network events. They use museums to wash their image. We want to challenge these relationships. The goal is to expose and confront the influence of the fossil fuel industry on cultural institutions in the Netherlands.”
