The book Performing Revolutionary: Art, Action, Activism invites artists, activists, and everyone else to learn about public actions and ceremonies for building the revolutionary skills we need now.
It is part utopian instruction manual, part artistic memoir, and part love letter to the sacred work of making radical change. Written by Nicole Garneau and edited by Anne Cushwa, the book features essays by Nicole Coffineau, Anne Cushwa, and Daniel Tucker, as well as photographs by Tara Malik, Ruth Robbins, and many others. On sale now! Published by Intellect Books.
“This book was stunning. Disarmingly honest and genuine about artistic struggle even as the artist moves with intuitive purpose through a fairly expansive project she had set before herself. This book is a gem for artists engaged in performance in all contexts as well as educators wanting to offer a case study of a public performance practice to their students. ”
“This book is a must have for artists, educators, activists and those of us who want to embrace revolution through positive, generative performance practice. This elegantly written book delivers a healthy serving of recipes for meaningful activities, profound cultural references for our times and intersectional possibilities for individual or group practices in and around theatre-making and activism. Make sure you have this on your bookshelf, in your travel bag and assigned to students on your syllabus as it will stand the test of time!”
Performing Revolutionary at Women & Children First Bookstore
by Christina Nafziger for Sixty Inches from Center
Book Review: Performing Revolutionary
by Rachel Pepper for Windy City Times
Listen to Nicole interviewed by Nance Klehm on her show "Spontaneous Vegetation" on Lumpen Radio, WLPN 105.5 FM Chicago. Nance Klehm's Spontaneous Vegetation radio show is long format conversations with folks who find the cracks, break up the compaction, remediate the contamination and leave the soil (metaphorically or literally) better for us all.
Art-Action-Activism Workshops, Residencies, Performances, & Book Events
What Art-Action-Activism workshops and UPRISING performances do for you, your group, your campus, and your community:
Animate Your Activism: Bring your issues and practice revolutionary strategies together. Get a bold infusion of creativity into your social justice work!
Build Community: Enliven a particular time, place, or space by creating performance actions that teach Revolutionary history.
Make performances and live art in public, with people. Practice strategies for engaging political content and reclaiming public space for art.
Make Sacred Space for Justice: Non-religious ceremonies and rituals that knit communities together and create heart-centered activist spaces. Great for opening or closing events!
Engage Youth through creative activism centered on issues and methods that are relevant to them
AJ Sacco in UPRISING #5. Photo: Aurora Tabar.
UPRISING Performances
UPRISING performances are collaboratively-created "public demonstrations of revolutionary practices." They bring people together in participatory actions that reclaim public spaces, engage compassionately, speak bravely and honestly, and activate bodies in the world.
Tufara Waller Muhammad in Nicole's "Numbers-Bodies-Love" workshop ROOTS Weekend Richmond, VA, April 2017. Photo: @adaywithdyff
Art-Action-Activism Workshops
Art-Action-Activism Workshops and Teaching Residencies are customized for a few hours or a full semester. All workshops are based on Revolutionary Strategies outlined in the book Performing Revolutionary: Art, Action, Activism by Nicole Garneau.
UPRISING #60 at the End of the World (Bywater neighborhood) New Orleans. Photo: Melisa Cardona
Author Talks & Book Events
Nicole Garneau is available for events focused on the recently-published Performing Revolutionary: Art, Action, Activism. All events include opportunities for public engagement and lively discussion tailored to the space and the audience. Dance party optional!
Book launch at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art: Nicole presented an interactive performance and book talk at Chicago's MCA in April 2018.
Workshop: Gender & Sexual Liberation as Revolutionary Practices, an interactive performance and book talk at the Center on Halsted, Chicago.
Video of Nicole Garneau as host/emcee of the Clear Creek Solstice Spectacle, June 2018, sharing Performing Revolutionary in an outdoor performance.