Well the Gulf Labor Coalition is a group of artists, writers, curators, scholars and other cultural. Cultural workers who are advocating for greater workers' rights and freedom of expression and the construction of new cultural institutions on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi. >> The Island of Happiness. >> Yes, the Island of Happiness is the literal translation of Saadiyat Island. So we came together originally in 2011 I believe. When the building the good in hand of Abu Dhabi was first announced. And there was period of private negotiation with Guggenheim for a number of months where we were trying to secure some assurances, basically, about what kind of worker's rights would be respected during this construction of the new Guggenheim. And when we were unable to secure that we then announced a public boycott. And there are about 2,300 signatories to the public boycott of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. And basically the boycott, with your signatory you agree not to sell work to the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi collection. Not to exhibit work at the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi once it's constructed. Not to participate in events on behalf of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. Those are already happening and that's basically the boycott. >> And it's important to note that the list includes artists like yourself you know, Hans Hockett, who's certainly collection like would hang would like to. And so it's because it's different that list includes all kinds of people, but a boycott only works if. Also people who in a museum like that would want to in their collection. >> Yeah, well basically the idea for the boycott grew out of the fact that the mandate of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi from TDIC, its partner in the Emirates in Abu Dhabi, is that it has to both collect and exhibit at least 50%. >> Artists from the Middle East, contemporary artists from the Middle East. So, those were the artists who provide the leverage of the boycott. >> Yeah. >> And the idea was really to get as many artists as possible who would be the artists necessary to form that collection and those exhibitions. To be, you know, participants in the boycott, and many of them are. >> So, there's also that mention of history in the press that's at play here. You know, the museums have always used the very, very tough labor- >> Right, yeah. >> Policies, if not harsher- >> Yeah. >> and tough. So can you talk a little bit about that? >> Well, many of us who are in the core working group of Gulf labor. Which includes people from the United States, Europe, South Asia and the Middle East. Became involved with organizing Gulf labor because we had worked in the United Arab Emirates. Or in the Gulf, or both. And because of that we actually felt personally implicated in this system, and personally responsible to do something about it. For us, you know there is. Some kind of promise in the construction of these new museums in Middle East which is this sort of idea that's held out by these autocratic rulers. You know, that these museums will be beacons of free expression that they will be places where a new kind of culture, a new kind of free zone, right? [CROSSTALK] That's your version of free >> Yeah. They basically are like the cultural equivalent of special economic zones, basically, where freedoms will be granted that are not granted anywhere else, right? And that's supposed to be enough. It's supposed to be enough that, that will happen once the museum is built. And we're supposed to be so grateful for that, that we ignore everything about how the museum is being built, right? But you know we just think that these museums can be and do more. I think we think more of museums, of these museums, than they do of themselves. And we expect more of them than they do of themselves, but I don't think that's wrong. >> No, and in fact, it's also position taking, in a sense, not just politically, but also of identification, right. You mentioned how many of you in the core group have done work that there and that puts you as a worker. So often, museums want to assume that the artist does not see him or herself as a worker. >> I know, which is so crazy. >> When in fact, many of us want to see ourselves as workers. >> We do. Most of us see ourself as workers. >> And therefore we sympathize. Not just on a human, social justice level, but even as workers who identify with the people during the construction. >> Yeah. Well 52 weeks was a campaign where Gulf Labor released an artist project, a new artist project every week for a year as part of a campaign to keep constant pressure on the Guggenheim, on TIC. The tourism investment development incorporation which is the Abu Dhabi authority overseeing Saadiyat Island and on all the kind of Western allies of Saadiyat construction projects, so the Louvre, on the British museum and On NYU and all the partners in the Staten Island. It became a really powerful thing for us not only because it was a way to exert a constant. Unrelenting pressure. >> Yeah. >> Which really changed the tenor of our conversations and negotiations which had been quite stalled up to that point. They entered a period of being very solemn which is why we got frustrated and decided to do this campaign, but also because it allowed us to, it gave us this way to Invite all these other different voices into Gulf Labor and into the way that we were talking and thinking about Gulf Labor. And it really kind of changed the way that we saw the boycott. And it allowed us to begin thinking about the boycott as the beginning of a conversation Instead of the end of a conversation. >> And well, also it was nice that people could participate no matter where they were living. And people could put in a huge amount of energy, time, and ideas. Or not as much, but still be committed. And something that I thought was quite powerful was it's literally a one year campaign, but that exists also after the. >> Yeah. >> And these were mostly artworks. In fact, all of them ended up being quite beautiful artworks. >> Yeah. >> They exist as a book now. You know. So they have a life into the future. >> Yeah. >> And not just in that moment, in the now of the activism. But one really powerful element was the actions that were part of- >> Exactly. >> The 52 Weeks that happen at the Guggenheim itself in New York. Could you describe some of them? >> Yeah, so as part of 52 weeks we invited people to propose actions, and that lead to the creation of the Global Ultra Luxury Faction, or G-U-L-F. Our deniable radical wing. [LAUGH] Our direct action faction. And they perform these really incredible direct actions at the Guggenheim in New York and more recently here in Venice. [BLANK_ADIO] So when they began about two years ago doing direct actions, one of them took place inside the Futurist Exhibition that was at the Guggenheim and they actually put their own sort of futurist manifestos inside the museum. Talking about labor situation in a broad sense, not just related to Abu Dhabi but in a broad sense. For example, we know that the workers who do security at the museum are really seriously underpaid. As well that's in New York City. So that's been addressed. On May Day, or May 1st, this year, just a few weeks ago really, we entered, I participated in this, even though I'm a member of Gulf Labor Coalition and not really officially a member of GULF. A number of us participated. We went inside the museum. And a particular moment, one of the individuals was sitting on a wheelchair, but she, in fact, was a. And underneath her was a huge banner made out of a parachute. So it was round, so it fit the shape of the Guggenheim and I was pulled out, precisely I think it was 10:00 AM, into a huge statement that said, for full workers rights or honor workers rights. At that moment leaflets came down from the top of the museum, and trickled down, and people started to read all these statements that we have. The three demands that we have, which I'm sure Marion covered which include repayment of recruitment fees, fair wages, and the right to organize and collectively bargain. >> And what about the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice? During the Venice you've been doing direct action here to>So on May Day we occupied the museum and we decided unlike previous Where it was just go in, and as soon as the security says leave, we leave. This time we agreed that if we were going to stay, we would take risk being actually arrested. And that was a difficult decision, because like three of us had our tickets to come to Venice the next day and if we ended actually in confinement, that could have been a real problem. We took the gamble the museum would not want to see artists being arrested in it's premises and that was correct. Police came out. They told us that they were just waiting for the wagon to come to take us away. They hovered for awhile. We sat, refused to leave. And then they dispersed. And at that point, the museum decided to close its doors. So only the people who were inside up to that point were staying. And then they eventually left the museum. So that by the end of the day, the museum was completely empty of people except for us and the security. But we had the entire museum to ourselves. It was a very strange and surreal experience. One week later here in Venice for the opening of the biennial, we decided to mount a marine landing on the canal side of the Peggy Guggenheim collection. >> And you'll see the beautiful boat in that drawing. >> Yeah, well the sketch was in the sense that it was actually taken from a whistler. >> Drawing from the 19th century. Whistler had come here and made sketches of Venice and it- he was actually just a napkin sketch that I think we drew together. And I said why don't we do something like this? And that ended up being incorporated into this huge batter that is inside the here. The reason for that is because the curator really wanted to have at least some physical presence of golf labor in the exhibition. And what we wanted to do was to have these paddles that would be representing the research Almost no object that can be called a art work so there's a compromise but as Pedro says we walked with sally docs which is a kind of a squatter space here in Venus we been dong a lot of report of actions during the years. We worked out an arrangement with some boats and we took off from selly docks with a crew of people. Gulf labor, members involved, GULF, and friends, photographers. And we went around and literally landed on the dock that sits on the Grand Canal in front of the Peggy Guggenheim took it over very quickly, put huge banners out, and put flags out and all kinds of material. So we did that, they immediately closed the doors that go into the museum, so no one could get inside. And we had hoped to actually occupy the entire space, so that became a bit of a problem, but we stayed there. At one point and we will see an image we thought they had sent or someone had sent police actually riot police in a boat. And they went by and after a bit instead of coming together, they sort of waved to us. We realized it was an art project [INAUDIBLE]. So nothing happened until a smaller group contingent of people decided to get back on the boat and go around and get in the front door of the museum which was still open to the public. And at that point the museum officials here in Venice met with a small group of people from this action, and discussed what we wanted, which was to meet with the board of directors. We'd been meeting with the museum for 5 years, I'm sure Marion's discussed this, and we really have gotten almost nowhere with them. And we thought if we go to the next level, to the board of directors, maybe we can have some of our concerns addressed more directly. [MUSIC] [SOUND] We, are the preparedness worker's pageant. We are here, to protest, the Guggenheim museum, in Abu Dhabi. Fair wage. >> Fair wage. >> Right to organize. >> Right to organize. >> And no debt. >> And no debt. >> And there's one particular saying. >> And there's one particular saying. >> Here in Italy. >> Here in Italy. >> Who looks after. >> Who looks after. >> Vicarious workers. >> Vicarious workers. His name is San Precario. >> His name is San Precario! >> Let us pray for San Bacario. Power to the precarious. >> Power to the precarious!
