In the summer of 2017, a woman was murdered by her partner in Sofia. The woman, let's call her "V," was beaten for over 50 minutes before she died. The morning after, her neighbors told the press that they heard her screams, but they didn't intervene. You see, in Bulgaria and many other societies, domestic violence is typically seen as a private matter. Neighbors, however, are quick to react to any other kind of noise.
Leta 2017. godine, jednu ženu je ubio partner u Sofiji. Ova žena koju ćemo zvati V. trpela je batine više od 50 minuta pre nego što je umrla. Narednog jutra, komšije su rekle novinarima da su čule njeno vrištanje, ali se nisu umešali. Vidite, u Bugarskoj i mnogim drugim društvima, nasilje u porodici se obično smatra za privatnu stvar. Komšije, međutim, brzo reaguju na bilo koju drugu vrstu buke.
We wanted to expose and affect the absurdity of this. So we designed an experiment. We rented the apartment just below V's for one night. And at 10pm, Maksim, the artist in our group, sat on the drum set we had assembled in the living room and started beating it. Ten seconds. Thirty seconds. Fifty seconds. A minute. A light came on in the hallway. One minute and 20 seconds. A man was standing at the door, hesitant to press the bell. One minute and 52 seconds. The doorbell rang, a ring that could have saved a life.
Hteli smo da razotkrijemo apsurdnost ovoga i utičemo na to. Zato smo osmislili eksperiment. Iznajmili smo stan odmah ispod stana V. na jednu noć. U 10 uveče, Maksim, umetnik u našoj grupi, seo je za bubnjeve koje smo sastavili u dnevnoj sobi i počeo je da udara. Deset sekundi. Trideset sekundi. Pedeset sekundi. Minut. Svetlo se upalilo u hodniku. Minut i 20 sekundi. Čovek je stajao na vratima, oklevajući da pritisne zvono. Minut i 52 sekunde. Zvono na vratima je zazvonilo. Zvono koje je moglo da spasi život.
"Beat." is our project exploring the ominous silence surrounding domestic violence. We filmed the experiment, and it became instantly viral. Our campaign amplified the voices of survivors who shared similar stories online. It equipped neighbors with specific advice, and many committed to taking action. In a country where every other week, the ground quietly embraces the body of a woman murdered by a partner or a relative, we were loud, and we were heard.
„Udarac.“ je naš projekat koji istražuje zlokobnu tišinu koja okružuje porodično nasilje. Snimili smo eksperiment i odmah se proširio na internetu. Naša kampanja je pojačala glasove preživelih koji su izneli slične priče onlajn. Opremila je komšije konkretnim savetima i mnogi su se obavezali na preduzimanje akcije. U zemlji u kojoj svake druge nedelje zemlja tiho zagrli telo žene koju ubije partner ili srodnik, bili smo glasni i čuli su nas.
I am an activist, passionate about human rights innovation. I lead a global organization for socially engaged creative solutions. In my work, I think about how to make people care and act. I am here to tell you that creative actions can save the world, creative actions and play. I know it is weird to talk about play and human rights in the same sentence, but here is why it's important. More and more, we fear that we can't win this. Campaigns feel dull, messages drown, people break. Numerous studies, including a recent one published by Columbia University, show that burnout and depression are widespread amongst activists. Years ago, I myself was burned out. In a world of endless ways forward, I felt at my final stop.
Ja sam aktivistkinja sa strašću prema novinama u oblasti ljudskih prava. Vodim globalnu organizaciju za društveno angažovana kreativna rešenja. U svom radu razmišljam o tome kako da ljude podstaknem da im bude stalo i da deluju. Ovde sam da bih vam govorila o tome da kreativne akcije mogu spasiti svet, kreativne akcije i igra. Znam da je čudno govoriti o igri i ljudskim pravima u istoj rečenici, ali evo zašto je to važno. Sve više se bojimo da ne možemo pobediti u ovome. Kampanje deluju dosadno, poruke se izgube, ljudi se slome. Brojne studije, uključujući i jednu koju je nedavno objavio Univerzitet u Kolumbiji, pokazuju da su izgaranje i depresija široko rasprostranjeni među aktivistima. I sama sam bila sagorela pre nekoliko godina. U svetu beskrajnih puteva ka napred, imala sam osećaj da sam na poslednjoj stanici.
So what melts fear or dullness or gloom? Play. From this very stage, psychiatrist and play researcher Dr. Stuart Brown said that nothing lights up the brain like play, and that the opposite of play is not work, it's depression. So to pull out of my own burnout, I decided to turn my activism into what I call today "play-tivism."
Pa, šta razgrađuje strah, dosadu i sumornost? Igra. Upravo sa ove bine je psihijatar i istraživač igre, dr Stjuart Braun, rekao da ništa ne aktivira mozak kao igra i da suprotnost igri nije rad, već depresija. Da bih se iščupala iz svog izgaranja, rešila sam da pretvorim svoj aktivizam u ono što danas nazivam „igrovizam“.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
When we play, others want to join. Today, my playground is filled with artists, techies and scientists. We fuse disciplines in radical collaboration. Together, we seek new ways to empower activism. Our outcomes are not meant to be playful, but our process is. To us, play is an act of resistance. For example, "Beat.," the project I talked about earlier, is a concept developed by a drummer and a software engineer who didn't know each other two days before they pitched the idea. "Beat." is the first winner in our lab series where we pair artists and technologists to work on human rights issues. Other winning concepts include a pop-up bakery that teaches about fake news through beautiful but horrible-tasting cupcakes --
Kada se igramo, drugi žele da se pridruže. Danas je moje igralište ispunjeno umetnicima, tehničarima i naučnicima. Spajamo discipline u okviru radikalne saradnje. Zajedno tražimo nove načine da ojačamo aktivizam. Naši ishodi nisu zamišljeni kao razigrani, ali proces jeste. Za nas je igra čin otpora. Na primer, „Udarac.“, projekat o kome sam prethodno govorila, je koncept koji su razvili bubnjar i softverski inženjer koji se nisu poznavali dva dana pre nego što su predložili tu ideju. „Udarac.“ je prvi pobednik u našem laboratorijskom nizu u kome smo spajali umetnike i tehnologe u radu na problemima ljudskih prava. Drugi pobednički koncepti uključuju privremenu pekaru koja podučava o lažnim vestima pomoću kolačića koji su lepi, ali groznog ukusa -
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
or a board game that puts you in the shoes of a dictator so you get to really grasp the range of tools and tactics of oppression.
ili društvena igra koja vas stavlja u ulogu diktatora, tako da zaista razumete opseg sredstava i taktika ugnjetavanja.
We did our first lab just to test the idea, to see where it cracks and if we can make it better. Today, we are so in love with the format that we put it all online for anyone to implement. I cannot overstate the value of experimentation in activism. We can only win if we are not afraid to lose.
Napravili smo prvu laboratoriju samo da testiramo ideju, da vidimo gde ima nedostataka i da li možemo da je unapredimo. Danas smo toliko zaljubljeni u taj format da sve stavljamo na internet tako da svako može da proba. Ne mogu dovoljno da naglasim korisnost eksperimenata u aktivizmu. Možemo pobediti samo ako se ne bojimo da izgubimo.
When we play, we learn. A recent study published by Stanford University about the science of what makes people care reconfirms what we have been hearing for years: opinions are changed not from more information but through empathy-inducing experiences. So learning from science and art, we saw that we can talk about global armed conflict through light bulbs, or address racial inequality in the US through postcards, or tackle the lack of even one single monument of a woman in Sofia by flooding the city with them, and, with all these works, to trigger dialogue, understanding and direct action.
Kada se igramo, učimo. Studija koju je nedavno objavio Univerzitet Stanford o nauci onoga što podstiče ljude da im bude stalo iznova potvrđuje ono što slušamo godinama: mišljenja se ne menjaju zbog dodatnih informacija, već kroz iskustva koja podstiču empatiju. Tako smo, učeći od nauke i umetnosti, uvideli da možemo govoriti o globalnim oružanim sukobima preko sijalica, ili da se možemo baviti rasnim nejednakostima u SAD-u preko razglednica, ili se pozabaviti nepostojanjem spomenika ijednoj ženi u Sofiji tako što ćemo preplaviti grad njima, i da svim tim delima možemo pokrenuti dijalog, razumevanje i direktnu akciju.
Sometimes, when I talk about taking risks and trying and failing in the context of human rights, I meet raised eyebrows, eyebrows that say, "How irresponsible," or, "How insensitive." People often mistake play for negligence. It is not. Play doesn't just grow our armies stronger or spark better ideas. In times of painful injustice, play brings the levity we need to be able to breathe. When we play, we live.
Ponekad, kada govorim o preuzimanju rizika, pokušajima i neuspesima u kontekstu ljudskih prava, nailazim na neodobravanje, pogled koji govori: „Kakva neodgovornost“ ili: „Kakva bezosećajnost.“ Ljudi često pogrešno smatraju da je igra nemarnost. Nije tako. Igra ne čini samo to da jača našu vojsku i podstiče bolje ideje. U vremenima bolne nepravde, igra daje lakoću koja nam je potrebna da bismo mogli da dišemo. Kada se igramo, živimo.
I grew up in a time when all play was forbidden. My family's lives were crushed by a communist dictatorship. For my aunt, my grandfather, my father, we always held two funerals: one for their bodies, but, years before that, one for their dreams. Some of my biggest dreams are nightmares. I have a nightmare that one day all the past will be forgotten and new clothes will be dripping the blood of past mistakes. I have a nightmare that one day the lighthouses of our humanity will crumble, corroded by acid waves of hate.
Odrasla sam u vreme kada je bilo kakva igra bila zabranjena. Život moje porodice bio je slomljen pod komunističkom diktaturom. Za moju tetku, dedu, oca, uvek smo imali dve sahrane: jednu za njihovo telo, ali i, godinama pre toga, jednu za njihove snove. Neki od mojih najvećih snova su noćne more. Imam noćnu moru da će jednog dana celokupna prošlost biti zaboravljena, a sa nove odeće će kapati krv grešaka iz prošlosti. Imam noćnu moru da će se jednog dana srušiti svetionici naše čovečnosti, nagriženi kiselim talasima mržnje.
But way more than that, I have hope. In our fights for justice and freedom, I hope that we play, and that we see the joy and beauty of us playing together. That's how we win.
Ali znatno više od toga, imam nadu. U našim borbama za pravdu i slobodu, nadam se da ćemo se igrati i da ćemo videti radost i lepotu kada se igramo zajedno. Tako pobeđujemo.
Thank you.
Hvala.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)