summit |ˈsəmit|
noun
1. the highest point of a hill or mountain.
figurative - the highest attainable level of achievement : the dramas are considered to form one of the summits of world literature.
2. a meeting between heads of government : [as adj. ] a summit conference.
October 12th and 13th mark the return of Creative Time's annual Summit in New York City, and the name is fitting given the organization's belief in the power of artistic leadership. Confronting Inequity, held at NYU's Skirball Center, "presents the work of cultural producers who are shaping discourse, contributing to social and political movements, and challenging inequities that affect people around the world."
Creative Time, as an organization and grant-giving body operating since 1974, has backed visionary and ambitious artistic projects, from Paul Chan's re-staging of Beckett's Waiting for Godot in the streets of New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward to Trevor Paglen's recent space launch titled The Last Pictures.
Inaugurated in 2009 and curated by Nato Thompson, the Creative Time Summit stands out globally for its commitment to exploring the intersection of art-making and social justice. Its past editions have been titled Revolutions in Public Practice and Living as Form. The Summit draws a crowd of close to 4000 people to hear an impressive array of experienced speakers - artists, performers, theorists, filmmakers, educators, journalists, and researchers in varied fields.
Friday's events include four sections on Inequities, Occupations, Making and Tactics. Keynote presentations will be given throughout the day by artist Martha Rosler, Tom Finkelpearl, Executive Director of the Queens Museum of Art, and prolific philosopher & cultural critic Slavoj Žižek.
Details of Saturday's sections and speakers will be announced on Creative Time's website very shortly: in-depth discussion sessions will allow audience members to engage directly with one another and presenters about a particular topic.
Tickets are sold out for Saturday's events but you can join 30,000 other viewers online via Creative Time's YouTube channel that will live-stream every event. In addition, the live-stream will be screened at over 30 physical locations around the world, including at RISD in Providence.
Tickets are still available for Friday's excellent line-up here. Hurry!
Friday 12 October, 2012 - 10am til 6:45pm
Saturday 13 October, 2012 - 11am til 5:30pm
The Skirball Center at New York University
Buy Tickets here
One Day Pass is $65.00
Creative Time archives all of its talks on its website www.creativetime.org
Follow them on Twitter / Facebook / YouTube and Tumblr blog
The Summit hashtag is #CTsummit
