STATE OF THE NATION V
Art and Performance Festival

New Orleans
March 18 - 23, 2009

A Partnership between Alternate ROOTS, ArtSpot Productions, Mondo Bizarro, MUGABEE, Junebug Productions, New Noise, 7th Ward Community Center, and the NOLA Human Rights Film Festival


--------------- Performance and Visual Art Proposal Form --------------

State of the Nation is an annual multidisciplinary arts festival and bi-monthly series that brings together student, emerging, and professional performing and visual artists from across the United States who are committed to addressing social, political, and economic issues facing the Gulf South. Co-Produced in New Orleans, LA and Jackson, MS annually since 2004, SON has presented the work of over two hundred and fifty dancers, musicians, theater artists, poets, painters, sculptors, filmmakers, activists and educators. Attended by thousands, this festival provides an opportunity to showcase projects and participate in workshops. At its best, it stands as a forum for democracy – a space for the free discussion of current affairs.

This year’s festival will explore the intersection of art and activism through the presentation of original performance, music, film, workshops, visual art installations and site-specific events. It will take place from March 18-23, 2009 at the 7th Ward Community Center, The Studio at Colton and various site-specific locations throughout New Orleans.

------------------------------ More About the Theme -----------------------------

Tipping points are "the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable" or "the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point.”

The theme for this year’s State of the Nation Festival is Tipping Point. For all artists who are proposing, we ask that you take this theme into account while envisioning your work. In discussions surrounding this theme, questions that have come up include:

How do we recognize when we’re at a tipping point? Is it possible to retreat from a tipping point? (ex. climate change, economic recession, privatization). When does a phenomenon tip over to become encoded in policy? How can art tip policy? How do we make art that tips people? Or pushes people toward a tipping point? How do we create tipping points that generate lasting positive social change?