Visual Activism in the 21st Century: Art, Protest and Resistance in an Uncertain World

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The world is in crisis, bringing activists and protesters onto the streets and into the public eye. More than ever, activism relies on spectacle and visibility in order to be noticed in the era of globalized capitalism and networked media. At the same time, a growing number of artists employ creative strategies to critique the establishment, act in resistance, and demand change. Visual activism of this kind is not new, but it is rapidly evolving. This anthology presents 16 case-studies of visual activism from across the globe, providing an up-to-date picture of the impact of contemporary visual and art activism, and combining a scholarly interrogation of visual activism with an examination of how it works in practice. The case studies address a wide range of issues including human rights abuses; state violence; gender and sexuality; racism; migration; and climate breakdown. They examine a range of approaches from playful carnivalesque parades to extreme practices such as lip-sewing, and are drawn from a wide range of international contexts from Europe and the US, to Iran, India, Pakistan, Tunisia, and China. This diverse scope enables readers to consider examples comparatively noticing emerging trends and key differences to reveal how geopolitical and cultural factors play an important role in shaping activist practices. This rich and timely collection provides a fresh perspective on the possibilities, limitations and politics of visual activism, as activists, artists, and curators respond to the changing world around them in this most uncertain of times.

Reviews

With its 16 chapters, this exciting volume introduces readers to a fresh series of contemporary visual practices and, importantly, a valuable range of perspectives that invite us to reflect on what visual activism is, and what it can achieve at a time of multiple crises. An insightful contribution to understanding visual politics in the 21st century. * Paula Serafini, Queen Mary University of London, UK *
A valuable contribution to the urgent ongoing debates about the contradictions and paradoxes stemming from activism in the field of visual culture, and art in the field of socio-political action. The book offers some newly-produced critical and theoretical discourses in the context of socially-engaged art that can inform artists, critics, curators, scholars, and activists who are invested in endorsing art as an important and potent social medium. * Suzana Milevska, Independent Curator, Researcher and Art Theorist, North Macedonia/Austria *

Author Bio

Stephanie Hartle is Senior Lecturer in Media Arts at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. Darcy White is Principal Lecturer in Visual Culture at Sheffield Hallam University, UK.