One of the founders of national studies, Benedict Anderson, stated in his book Imagined Communities that all communities larger than those where everyone knows each other by face are so-called "imagined." These "imagined communities" are connected by a shared identity, culture, and history, even if individuals do not personally know one another. These communities are primarily linked through a shared worldview and identity rather than physical belonging or direct interaction.

We live in an era where communities emerge solely on the internet, shaped by the content we choose to consume and defined in opposition to everything that is not “us.” In a time when physical contact and real-time interaction have become rarer, it is especially important to engage with communities that exist both on a primal and on an “imagined” level — where people know each other by face and name, and together shape and share their worldview and way of life.

SWITCHING OVER: artistic communities brings together creators of various communities engaged in the arts — be it theater, visual arts, or artistic community activism. We are interested in what IGNITES these community activists, how these communities have taken shape, and what they have collectively achieved.