Open letter by Black artists in Switzerland and by the students of the ECAL

Black Artists and Cultural Workers in Switzerland: Open letter. https://blackartistsinswitzerland.noblogs.org/

Open letter by students of the ECAL: Full text in French, German and Italian version on tiny.cc/ecalopenletter Se also on the groups’ Instagram account

“Dear Alexis Georgacopoulos, Dear course leaders, Dear people in power, This open letter aims to address our first appeal towards immediate measures which we believe that ECAL, as well as other educational institutions, have the responsibility to put into effect. The response that we received from the head of ECAL maintained that our university is not taking any particular measures in order to pave the way for progressive and lasting change within the institution. Because the response from ECAL doesn’t tackle any of the concerns we outlined in detail in our previous writing, we are asking you once again to take into consideration the proposed long-term measures against racial discrimination and in favor of more transparency and inclusion. As a higher-education institution that has no actual policies, programmes or systems in place that prevent the racialising, tokenising and discrimination of students, it is highly questionable for ECAL to assert being a precursor of the art and design industry. Claiming ‘unity’ and being open to everyone is not enough. This is especially pertinent when we consider that this responsibility is passed down to us, white students and students of colour alike. As a whole, we feel disappointed in the lack of action and support directed at dismantling white power structures within ECAL, hence we urge you to follow up on the list of structural demands* that we have outlined in our initial writing. While we recognize the consideration our letter received, we still find ECAL’s neutral stance as utterly unacceptable in this situation. In this sense, we do not believe that it is a “legitimate posture” to stay silent neither as a public entity nor in an internal and structural sense. We understand that this is a critical time of questioning for people unaffected by racism as well and we invite ECAL, together with us students who are mostly white, to consider questions we haven’t considered before. We also want to point out the importance of having an open dialog between ECAL and its students, so that we can work together towards making the school reflect our values. In his reply, the head of ECAL quoted Nelson Mandela who expressed that “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. We can agree with this sentiment and this is precisely one of the reasons why many of us decided to pursue higher education. However, ECAL, which prizes itself with critical teaching, simultaneously encourages its students to outsource this very education at their own interest. A university cannot entirely allocate these educational responsibilities to its students and subsequently claim leadership of the institution’s progressiveness. Our educational system shouldn’t feel entitled to appropriate the critical works of students for its benefit when the sole intention is deflecting culpability in the failure to address critical issues of race, class and gender from within. We will insist on this pressing matter until action is taken on ECAL’s side to address the global uproar against racism and their institutional complicity in a system that white people are the beneficiaries of. Take for example the lack of transparency regarding sponsors and supporters of ECAL: what policies, if any, are in place to ensure that funds aren’t coming from sources that directly or indirectly profit from exploiting black populations? We expect a radical shift in the transparency and reexamination of the powers that be. This lack of involvement provokes certain contradictions also in terms of academic expectations: how can ECAL expect student work to be critical when the school is not willing to provide a critical education? How can it claim credit for critical student work and yet refuse to implement internal structures that are actively anti-racist? In what ways does ECAL advocate and provide visibility to projects that question existing power structures defined by race, class and gender? To conclude, we would like to emphasize that it is crucial for ECAL (as well as other educational institutions) to make use of its power and impact in the art world by voicing the aforementioned concerns. We expect our university to provide their students with the prospect of a future that goes in accordance with our current values: those which grant a space for all people to navigate in safely and with dignity as well as prosper equally in their careers. ECAL Students

* We urge you to take a position regarding the following non-exhaustive list of structural demands effective as of immediately.

Transparency about sponsors – Who are ECAL’s sponsors/donors and do they in any direct or indirect way generate funds from colonial exploitation? – What set of ethics does ECAL apply when choosing what sponsors to accept funding from? – Are there funds being mobilised for inclusive causes, be it in the form of donations to organisations or internally in the form of scholarships?

Transparency about possible wage differentials. – Are there race-based salary discrepancies? Are there gender-based salary discrepancies? If so, how are you going to fix it?

Transparency about employing black staff while also providing a safe work environment for them. – Are fees for black artists’ work the same as they are for white artists’ work? – What are the measures ECAL is taking to provide a safe work environment for black people and people of colour? – What system is in place, if any, that provides a dignified way to report incidences of racialisation, discrimination and tokenisation? – Is ECAL taking any specific measures to provide a safe work environment for black and POC artists who are invited to give workshops and lectures? In what way? – Are faculty being invited and encouraged to actively inform themselves about a more inclusive set of artists, curators and galleries?

Actively invite the teachers to make an effort in being informed on black artists, curators and galleries. – Are black artists being taken into account to the same degree without having to make their work about race? – To what extent are colonial views critically questioned when it comes to art and culture that are discussed within the institution? – How does ECAL guarantee critical training for its employees?

Compulsory anti-racism workshops. – It is not enough to claim and praise “Unity”. What exactly are you doing to dismantle white supremacy in your institution and across its faculty? – Are your employees made aware of the prejudices of white power structures that are deeply rooted in Swiss and Western society, culture and politics?

Extracurricular education. – What measures has the institution taken so far to provide the necessary infrastructure, tools and resources? This is particularly important because in the last email (10/06/20) ECAL encouraged students to complete critical training outside of the curriculum.”