In the realm of public space, both the rational and emotional are closely intertwined. The so-called refugee crisis in Europe has been instrumentalized by politicians and the media, who benefit from the creation of irrational fears amongst people. The project Politics of Fear aims at inviting people of the city to discuss their personal notions of fear and hope for the future in general, with an additional focus on how fears are constructed in the context of the rise of right-wing parties in Europe.
Politics of Fear consists of a series of participatory interventions in public space. The objective is to investigate the media’s role in the construction of fear and to negotiate and visualize the fears and hopes of people through artistic means, in order to challenge right-wing supremacy and their tactical play with people’s concerns for the future.
The Politics of Fear (POF) Collective approach the public arena with interdisciplinary action that opens-up room for a verbal and visual dialogue to take place. Fears left unspoken cannot be negotiated or contested. Fears that are actively listened to and recorded are immediately becoming contributions to a continuous debate that can generate a wider discourse on the matters of concern.
Fear should become again a sincere emotion and not a manipulated fiction, one that interfaces with reality and one that calls into question, “What kind of (urban) future do we want?”
POLITICS OF FEAR COLLECTIVE 