A Very Special Campaign from Our Friends at /The Rules

“Calling all painters, photographers, filmmakers, musicians, dancers, graffiti artists, fine art students, animators, sculptors, designers, actors, advertisers, poets, writers, illustrators, tech specialists, crafters and anyone with a passion for creating, we’d love to hear from you.

We invite you; creatives, artists and activists of all types, from around the world, to join us in seeing wetiko for two weeks this July.

We are pleased to offer 8 gifts of $500 to support the development of the most exciting and engaging concepts. We will offer them to our favourite concept proposals that come in for the campaign.

/The Rules can help you explore the concept of wetiko, and will then work to place your work in mainstream spaces, including online and traditional media; specifically, those places where people think and talk about global poverty, inequality and climate change.

Why wetiko?

All over the world, there is a feeling that something is deeply wrong. It is often felt more than seen, an unnamed darkness that keeps millions (even billions) of people disconnected from the reality of authentic life-affirming experience.  Too many of our so-called leaders are asleep at the wheel—they talk about economic growth-at-all-costs as the only viable solution to mass poverty, wealth inequality, the climate crisis, and other planetary-scale crises humanity must confront in the 21st Century.

Those with a spiritual bend might say that a shadowy presence has shrouded much of the Earth. People are sleeping through the same nightmare, unable to awaken within the dream.

Wetiko is an Algonquin word for a cannibalistic spirit that is driven by greed, excess and selfish consumption (in Ojibwa it is windingo, wintiko in Powhatan). It deludes its host into believing that cannibalizing the life-force of others (others in the broad sense, including animals and other forms of Gaian life) is a logical and morally upright way to live.

– Every time someone is seen justifying the destruction of life for profit—it is wetiko.

– Every time compassion is vitally missing during a time of suffering—it is wetiko.

– Every time a privileged person uses another as a “throw away” toy—it is wetiko.

– Every time, in every way a community or country is impoverished so that others can be rich – it is wetiko.

You can read more about wetiko here in our creative brief.

How does seeing wetiko help?

A key lesson from the healing arts (psychotherapy, restorative justice, etc.)  is that when we are conscious of the narratives that shape our lives and culture we are less likely to replicate them blindly. Conscious awareness is the beginning of an antidote, like green shoots through concrete.

Therefore, one of the starting points for healing is the simple act of seeing wetiko in ourselves, in others, and in our cultural infrastructure. And once we see it we can name it, which is critical because words and language are a central battleground in the fight for a better future.

If wetiko exists, it is because it exists within us. It is also entangled with the broader superstructure, relationships and choice architecture that we are confronted with as we live out our lives within a neoliberal system on the brink of collapse.

Once we are in the mode of seeing wetiko, we can hack the cultural systems that perpetuate its logic.

What is a starburst?

Our intention is to create a fruitful ‘starburst’ of expression around the idea of seeing wetiko. We’ll support a group of inventive, diverse, creative minds to put their artistic energy and vision into making seeing wetiko come alive, in whatever form or medium you prefer.

Together, as a collective, we’ll embody seeing wetiko and the narratives and stories around it for a short period of two weeks in an explosion of activity, colour and creativity (much like a starburst) that will ripple out into and infect the mainstream.

How to submit a concept

We have 8 x $500 awards to distribute to help people develop their ideas into physical reality.

If you are interested in accepting the invitation and applying for one of these awards, please send a short description (and perhaps a simple sketch/recording/film, if it helps you to communicate it) of your concept to seeingwetiko@therules.org before May 20th 2016.

We’ll then assess all the contributions we receive and select the eight ideas we think best meet the criteria (detailed on the website) to receive the $500 funding. Successful entries will have until the 24th June 2016 to complete their artwork and submit it.

You can read the full details of the starburst here, including:

– More information about the concept of wetiko

– Things to inspire you to see wetiko

– Assessment criteria for contributions

We hope you’ll join us in seeing wetiko. If you want to discuss the starburst or wetiko in more detail or submit a concept, please email us at seeingwetiko@therules.org”

Read more:

– Seeing wetiko creative brief