Zahran Mamdani: A threat or an opportunity for art?

According to Isna, in the past year, Zahran Mamdani has become one of the most influential figures in the political and cultural system of New York; A character who was able to bring together people from different classes, neighborhoods and artistic circles.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist figure, finally managed to make history and became the first Muslim mayor of New York and the youngest elected mayor of this city in the last century.

The Observer newspaper writes about him in a report:

His campaign focused not on metaphor and slogans, but on the realities of New Yorkers’ lives: rents that are eating up paychecks, inflation that has made grocery shopping a difficult decision, immigration raids in broad daylight, and a government shutdown that has cut off food benefits for more than 40 million Americans.

Many of Mamdani’s proposals seem absurd to those who have never had to choose between paying rent, buying food, or taking transit: free public transportation, real rent stabilization, and taxing the wealthy who have made New York their cultural playground.

Mamdani’s connection with culture is personal. His mother, Meera Nair, has been influential in international cinema for more than four decades, establishing the infrastructure of filmmaking outside of Hollywood. Her husband, Rameh Dewaji, is a freelance illustrator who faces problems such as late payments, lack of health insurance, skyrocketing rents, and job instability.

In other words, Mamdani’s policies come from the artists’ real experience, not from outside the pit.

Mamdani said in a speech: “When we talk about the need to make the most expensive city in America livable, it means commitment to artists. We can’t have art if the artist can’t pay his rent, if he can’t provide childcare, or if he doesn’t have $2.90 for a bus fare. “Art cannot be a luxury item for a few.”

But this view provoked contradictory reactions. While many people of culture and art welcomed his justice-oriented message, some influential figures of the art world spoke with horror about “socialist taxes”.

One of the sharpest reactions came from Jerry Gagosian’s page on Instagram, who wrote in an article: “Mamdani is bad for the art world.” “Now that you have to share 50% of the sale of the painting with the gallery owner, you are grumbling, wait until the socialist taxes arrive.”

At the same time, many reminded that Jerry doesn’t even live in New York and his perspective is alien to the social and economic realities of this city.

One of the authors and professors of the City University of New York wrote in an article: “I, along with my students and colleagues, live with economic austerity, high rent and reduced institutional support. The real threat to freedom of speech is not in dialogue but in everyday pressure; How can I talk about war, occupation, protest and government power in class? In such an atmosphere, it is considered misleading to use the slogan of freedom of speech to defend the comfort of the rich while the real spokesmen of culture are under pressure.

When rents rise and wages remain flat, when public transport becomes expensive and cultural work is seen as the only economic “input”, culture does not collapse, it migrates.
“If the billionaire tax is a threat to a part of the art world, that part has never been about art, but an investment strategy labeled as aesthetics.”

Therefore, Mamdani is not a threat to culture; He is a threat to the notion that the rich are the natural guardians of art and cultural heritage.

The generation that creates culture has paid for the city for decades, and now it’s time for those who benefit from culture to pay their share.

Before entering politics in 2020, Zahran Mamdani worked as a foreclosure prevention counselor for low-income immigrant families in Queens, New York. He also has a background in rap music and performed under the stage name “Young Cardamom” in 2016 alongside Ugandan rapper “HAB” at the “Nyege Nyege” festival.

He also produced the music for the film made by his mother Meera Nair titled “Queen of Katoh” and collaborated in writing its song. In 2019, Zahran Mamdani published the song “Nani” in honor of her grandmother.

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