Art21 Extended Play

Tania Bruguera’s Petition to the Pope

Tania Bruguera obtaining a signature for The Francis Effect (2014) at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY. Production still from ART21 Exclusive. © ART21, Inc. 2014.  Cinematography: Rafael Salazar

Tania Bruguera obtains a signature for The Francis Effect (2014) at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY. Production still from the series ART21 Exclusive. © ART21, Inc. 2014. Cinematography: Rafael Salazar.

“Immigrants do not need charity; they need papers.” —Tania Bruguera

Today’s ART21 Exclusive features Tania Bruguera collecting signatures as part of her socially engaged performance project The Francis Effect (2014). For fifteen weeks Bruguera stood outside of the Guggenheim Museum in New York asking passersby to sign a petition to Pope Francis that requests Vatican City citizenship for undocumented immigrants. “A lot of people know it’s impossible,” says Bruguera. Yet she believes “the impossible is only impossible until somebody makes it possible.” In her engagement of our political imaginations, Bruguera demonstrates the power of art to change perceptions and mobilize political action.


ART21 Exclusive is supported, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; 21c Museum Hotel, and by individual contributors.

CREDITS: Producer: Ian Forster. Consulting Producers: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Ian Forster. Camera: Rafael Salazar & Ava Wiland. Sound: Ava Wiland. Editor: Morgan Riles. Translation: Michela Moscufo. Artwork Courtesy: Tania Bruguera. Special Thanks: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum & Rebecca Mir. Theme Music: Peter Foley.

 

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