'Art is not a luxury. Art is a basic social need to which everyone has a right'.

WHY ARE WE ARTISTS is a new anthology of 100 years of artists', film makers' and architects' manifestos from across the globe.

This extraordinary collection of 100 artists' manifestos from across the globe over the last 100 years brings together political activists, anti-colonialists, surrealists, socialists, nihilists and a host of other voices. From the
Négritude movement in Europe, Africa and Martinique to Japan's Bikyoto, from Iraqi modernism to Australian cyberfeminism, they are by turns personal, political, utopian, angry, sublime and revolutionary. Some have not been published in English before; some were written in climates of censorship and brutality; some contain visions of a future still on the horizon. What unites them is the belief that art can change the world. It’s a truly global approach to the subject.

 

The manifesto selections were made by Jessica Lack, who began her career at Tate: The Art Magazine before becoming preview arts writer at the Guardian and i-D Magazine. She scripted the short film season Unlock Art and has written for all the major art magazine publications. She co-authored the best-selling Tate Guide to Modern Art Terms.