Walk and Talk Interview with Jesse James
Met Artistic Directors; Jesse James, Luís Brum, and Sofia Carolina Botelho
December 22, 2022
Website: https://andafala.org/Walktalkazores
I had the opportunity while in the Azores to meet the artistic directors from Walk and Talk, a Public Art Festival hosted on San Miguel Island every year. Below are the questions and answers from an interview I conducted with Jesse James.
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story When looking over your website you probably get this a lot but how was this imagined/created?”
It started with a group of friends back then. Back then we were very young and naive. We were all living in other places and wondering how we could bring what we were seeing elsewhere to the Azores. The festival temporarily drew attention to the program.
We wanted to defy what is central and peripheral. How can we look at the islands to be a place for new projects? Not just absorb but also create. In the beginning Street Art was one strategy to connect to people and force a relationship. As the years went on we questioned a lot of what we did. We tried other strategies but sometimes they felt shallow. It was more about beautification with street art than the conversation. We moved into an artist residency program where they worked from the island and focused on creating projects that stem from the Azores. — Jesse
“What was the 1st edition like vs. now?”
The Festival has evolved from one end to the other. The 8th to the 10th was multidisciplinary, with new commissions creating a context for artists to work. It activated the art in other ways. It became more political. Festivals stem from visuals, lots of exhibitions in a space for a given subject that happens within the time and space. Over time it moved towards temporary projects instead of permanent ones. We drifted away from monuments and permanent structures.
We wanted the festival space to mediate, open up to different perspectives, and opinions and have people talk. This past year's theme was in the 1st place, which exists in the 1st place.
We started asking ourselves the question: Does permanency stem from Capitalism?
We were seeing other festivals capitalizing on artists' work, not on creativity. Gentrification was extractive going into public. In the Early 2010s, there was a total takeover of that medium, public art for branding. If permanency is capitalist, what's the return on investment.
If it ignites conversation for us then it was worth it.
Inviting artists whose work is not usually on a wall, inviting other artists from other spaces. At first, it felt like we had to make it something people would like, “pretty”. But we wanted it to be something free-er. It transitioned into seeing something that they don’t like and questioning their position. — Jesse
“What is your drive?”
Mainly building community, the network of relations, friendship, and commonality. How do we share these processes and have it become more than the art itself? We want something that creates knowledge and shares it. How can we expand the island into other ways of being; of respect, harmony, and empathy? Art for the sake of art I also agree with but we are about opening up space for conversations; seeing, accepting, and questioning. — Jesse
“How was the Festivals reception?”
Positive with lots of curiosity, especially in the early years. Eventually, in the 5th-6th edition, we went through growing pains. We became more conceptual and with a lot of queer perspectives. In a conservative context, this was hard, not openly but internal homophobia is progressive and quite systemic on the islands.
We started talking about Portugal's relationship as a colonizer* which is still being understood. We initiated colonization in the 15th century, still present. We started talking openly about it and having conversations.
Some people started calling it “the gay festival”. How do we deal with being the new kids on the block and turn it into a more complex space? How do we maintain the audience's attention? The festival-residency-exhibition path adds more specialization to the audience. We now have a whole generation as the festival has been for over a decade now. This generation can volunteer and is aware of it, and comfortable with it, they are not afraid of asking questions, to share knowledge and information. This generation is reclaiming power that people have retained and reconfigured. There is a shift and change in relationship but also within themselves.
We have this new space that we spent the last year working on. Our priorities are that we want a friendly, inviting environment. — Jesse
“What is your Knowledge Program?”
I don’t know if you know this but the word Vaga means the big wave that moves huge masses of water, which translates this idea of moving, and to us the moving of information and knowledge sharing.
This program is audience-building. Bringing people into the projects and finding ways to bring them into the discussion. We hope to encourage them to form their own opinions. We give guided tours at different exhibitions, and take people on excursions. This could be going from a project workshop and exhibition to the festival and then a dinner after might have something to do with it. We want to connect art to other greetings and take it outside of contextualization.
Within the Knowledge Program, we have 8 people (ages 15-35) from the Azores; it's a full mixture of those who are also being paid. They follow all the programming; apart from it looking critically, as to see what is being done. Then they will organize the 4th season enabling them to “do”, how do you share knowledge, with minimal guidance. Who knows maybe even after this they will organize their festivals, but they will have the tools to know either way. Go beyond art creating a connection between science, politics, etc.
We want to invite them into space, not as an artist but to be a part of the conversation. Dismantling the structure, to know that you can join, you can be apart, you can do and if you don’t want to that's okay. People might not love it but they do respect the space and move on. They worked and they tried and it might not be for them. That's okay. — Jesse
“Post Pandemic how has this affected you and your goals moving forward?”
I am constantly reminding myself of what our goals are and they evolve. We want vaga where everyone can come and feel comfortable. Next year is a pause to take the time to read, question, and understand where we want to position ourselves. Having the festival every year is too much. We needed it in the beginning, the intensity that “July is Walk and Talk month”. At first, we needed it to be nonstop, now we are taking a step back.
A lot of these ideas come from the Pandemic;
Our new space, this space is from the pandemic. We shifted our grants into this space. Renovated the entire place, built the walls, and changed it.
We wanted to do things differently. We have not been able to apply it all yet. Everyone was so excited to be together in the second half of 2021 and 2022. It has been much more intense because of the things we could not do but now needed to do. 2022 was very busy and not sustainable. This was a lot to keep up with.
Instead of 5 or 7 exhibitions do 3 or 4. Develop a program around the exhibition. Maybe do a book club, inviting people into the space.
In the Azores, some have never been, never experienced art, and feel weird, and excluded. We want more people engaged, inviting them into the space so that they feel comfortable. Some have never even been invited before. They may see it as a “weird” space at first but then they start understanding and they feel agency in the space. It can change perspectives in life. Now artists and the public are coming back and seeing the way we see ourselves. — Jesse
“What will everything look like moving forward?”
We have a lot that is changing. Festivals play a part in identity building. We need to do less and can’t always be on the go go go. We are a group of 8 people, with three artistic directors, and the flow is very horizontal. We encourage the team to reach for residence projects outside and explore outside of work. Oftentimes these then inspire and feed their other work.
We have felt this pressure and urgency to translate online. We are taking a pause. What's the validation, and reason on Instagram, why are we posting?
Our Festival is transitioning into a biennial that only happens every other year giving us more time to focus on other objectives and initiatives. We are building our library and for programming you need time and that is what we are focusing on. — Jesse
This interview with Jesse was eye-opening in many ways. Having just arrived from Canada it was a focus shift and welcome challenge to what I had been understanding about Public Art across Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). I think the conversations and emphasis put on knowledge sharing are imperative now more than ever. How dedicated Jesse and this team are to creating a space where generationally discussions and information is being digested, contemplated, and shared is admirable.
His comment about murals as a beautification tactic hit me hard. I love murals and always will but I understand the weight that hangs above them as a form of beautification and who is it actually for. I think the way I experienced it being done in Toronto is the steps needed to be taken to effectively denounce this. In the Curtia Wright mural, there were multiple community engagement sessions and workshops with local community members about what they wanted. Then also a paint day where everyone was invited to come and participate assisting in painting a part of the piece. I think there is a balance between murals' purpose within communities and when it has crossed that line.
This has definitely sparked a longer blog post about this idea and the conversations being had around it.
When I spoke with Jesse about whether he would have done it differently, not pushed so much from the beginning when founding the Festival he said no. That doing those first mural installations and the festival each year is what ingrained and set expectations locally and on an international level. Needed to create that sort of recognition and now can take a step back and contemplate what they want moving forward.
For family and friends back home you may get a kick out of this. What I did not realize before heading to Portugal was the amount of connection it has to where I grew up. New Bedford, Massachusetts nickname is Little Portugal! Jesse and Sofia curated an entire project in Fall River, the Fabrics Art Festival which will run in October 2023.
I have more coincidences and funny stories from connections I made during my time in Portugal that I will share in the next blog post coming up. Once again thank you for reading and supporting me in my Watson year!
*for those who may not know Portugal played a leading role in the Atlantic Slave Trade. Portuguese traders brought the first large number of slaves from Africa to England. They also carried the first shipload of African slaves to Brazil in the Americas, establishing the Atlantic Slave Trade.*
