Projects tagged "Civil Liberties"

My vagina says, “I want freedom.”
Practitioner:
Beijing Foreign Studies University Students
Date:
Nov 12 2013
In November 2013, a group of 17 female students at Beijing Foreign Studies University sparked national debate when they staged a bold social media campaign in support of an upcoming performance of The Vagina Monologues, a feminist play by Eve Ensler.
"Stand Up, Sisters (《姐姐妹妹站起来》)": The Miserable Past of Chinese Prostitutes
Practitioner:
Xihe Chen (陈西禾)
Date:
Jan 1 1951
"Stand Up, Sisters" tells the story of a rural girl who journeys to Beijing for a family visit, only to be deceived and forced into prostitution, suffering unthinkable hardships. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, these women are rehabilitated. The narrative reaches its peak with her and her younger sisters' victorious achievement of self-reliance.
Flower People
Practitioner:
Dakotah Aiyanna
Date:
Dec 11 2020
“As a Black woman, I can grow absolutely anywhere," Aiyanna explains. "I can adapt to any storm, any weather, any changes. In the Black community, that's something that we're really good at.” So when Aiyanna, 25, was asked to contribute the first L in a Black Lives Matter mural made by a group of artists in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, she knew her letter would include a flower person.
Benjamin Lay spills blood at 1738 Quaker Meeting
Practitioner:
Benjamin Lay
Date:
Sep 1 1738
It was September 1738, and Benjamin Lay had walked 20 miles, subsisting on “acorns and peaches,” to reach the Quakers’ Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Beneath his overcoat he wore a military uniform and a sword — both anathema to Quaker teachings. He also carried a hollowed-out book with a secret compartment, into which he had tucked a tied-off animal bladder filled with bright red pokeberry juice.
Wheel of Misfortune
Practitioner:
Civic Party
Date:
Jan 27 2017
Hong Kong’s Lunar New Year fairs draw thousands of visitors who stroll past stalls of potted narcissus, snack on fish balls and snap up the latest plush toys. In recent years, the largest of the fairs, at Victoria Park, has also become a prime site for political expression.
Sex Strike
Practitioner:
Liberal Ladies Who Lunch
Date:
Apr 23 2012
Mockery: Women’s New Weapon 
Red Sand Project
Practitioner:
Molly Gochman
Date:
Jun 2 2014
The Red Sand Project is a participatory art installation and social awareness project created by artist and activist Molly Gochman in 2014. The project aims to raise awareness about human trafficking, which is a global issue that affects an estimated 40 million people, including men, women, and children who are subjected to forced labor, sexual exploitation, and other forms of exploitation.
Inviting Strangers and Homeless people for Dinner
Practitioner:
Brother Gao (China)
Date:
Aug 1 2003
Brother Gao are two China artists. Their works are aims at reflecting the reality of Chinese society in an artistic and critical view. In 2003, the brothers held an event to invite many strangers for a dinner.
International Harlem Fine Arts Show
Practitioner:
Dion Clark, International Harlem Fine Arts Show
Date:
Feb 24 2023
The International Harlem Fine Arts Show (HFAS) is the largest traveling African Diasporic art show in the United States. Inspired by the Harlem Renaissance, HFAS provides a platform for African Diasporic visionaries and American visual artists to exhibit and sell their artwork. The show also aims to create economic empowerment, educational opportunities and professional recognition within the multicultural community.
Activists lay thousands of shoes outside Capitol for children killed by gun violence
Practitioner:
avaaz
Date:
Mar 13 2018
WASHINGTON -- Thousands of shoes were laid outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to represent children who have been killed by gun violence. Avaaz, an international advocacy group, planned the demonstration to honor victims killed since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.
This area will be photographed
Practitioner:
Laura Napier
Date:
Oct 11 2015
"This area will be photographed" is a public performance of implied photographic consent, inspired by Google's street view and satellite surveillance. Posted signs and handbills alerted the public present in Union Square, New York, NY that a photograph would be taken of the area at a precise time.
Day of Disruption
Practitioner:
Israeli Artists
Date:
Mar 16 2023
Text by Jerusalem Post Staff -
We have to get beyond the shame’: Women of the World launches festival against sexual violence
Practitioner:
in partnership with Birkbeck, University of London, will see national, international and grassroots organisations and charities join forces with local artists and leading voices to address the global crisis of violence against women and sexual assault.
Date:
Nov 27 2021
Gender equality charity Women of the World (WOW) is launching a one-day festival of activism that invites people from all generations, genders and backgrounds to take part in conversations around sexual violence.
"Fuck Tha Police": N.W.A.'s Most Courageous Song is Still Relevant As Ever
Practitioner:
N.W.A.
Date:
Aug 9 1998
Upon its original release on N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton LP in 1988, the song was safely titled “_ _ _ _ Tha Police (Fill in the Blanks),” and the album cover was among the first to feature the infamous “Parental Advisory” label, warning moms and dads about the album’s explicit lyrics. A censored version of the LP even omitted the song entirely.
#NOSFALTAN43
Practitioner:
Lavinia Raccanello
Date:
Dec 11 2014
On December 2014 I've been artist in residence at MANY MINI RESIDENCY a short-term residency program organized by Sarrita Hunn and Ryan Thayer and hosted by GYB BYG in Mexico City. During my 12 hour residency I’ve worked on the case of the 43 students from Normal Rural de Ayotzinapa who went missing while in the custody of Iguala’s police force in September 2014.
untitled (Long Live the Real King)
Practitioner:
Unknown
Date:
Feb 24 2025
An A.I. generated video of Donald Trump sucking Elon Musk's toes was broadcast at the Department of Housing and Development headquarters in DC in February of 2025. As an actual art piece, we can debate if the video itself is art. However, the caption, subject matter of the fake video, and chosen location to broadcast is definitely a strategic work of creative activism. From the New York Times:
Adrian Piper, Mythic Being, 1973 - 1975
Practitioner:
Adrian Piper
Date:
Jan 1 1973
Adrian Piper disguised her identity, changing her race, sex, and social class in order to experiment in public situations and gauge people’s reactions. She investigated how outwardly visible identity markers (like skin color) impacted others’ perceptions of her character. By manipulating her (apparent) identity to produce reactions, she demonstrated the power and influence of stereotypes (Piper, 1996).
Young Activists Use Art to Fight for the DREAM Act
Practitioner:
Im:Arte, Julio Salgado, Pocho-1
Date:
Jun 11 2011
The federal DREAM Act is back. This week Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the longtime champion of the bill, chaired the first ever Senate hearing on the narrow legalization effort that would allow a select population of undocumented youth a pathway toward citizenship.
The Declaration of Sentiments from the First Women's Rights Convention
Practitioner:
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Date:
Jul 20 1848
The Declaration of Sentiments, also known as the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments, is a document signed in 1848 at the first women's rights convention to be organized by women. Held in Seneca Falls, New York, the convention is now known as the Seneca Falls Convention. The principal author of the Declaration was Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who modeled it upon the United States Declaration of Independence.
This Taiwanese Calligrapher Brings a Message of Freedom to the Met
Practitioner:
Tong Yang-Tze
Date:
Nov 9 2024
The boulders hiding in the alcove of Tong Yang-Tze’s apartment testify to this Taiwanese calligrapher’s daunting perfectionism.
#FUEELESTADO
Practitioner:
Lavinia Raccanello
Date:
Dec 5 2014
“Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.” Mahatma Gandhi #FUEELESTADO is a project about the lack of social justice and the gross human rights violations in Mexico. It examines the conflict between state power and personal autonomy and responsibility, a conflict that, in Mexico, involves missing persons and unidentified bodies and that can’t be silenced anymore.
‘Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues’ Review: In His Own Words
Practitioner:
Louis Armstrong
Date:
Feb 13 2023
In Louis Armstrong’s study in the Queens home he shared with his fourth wife, Lucille, bookshelves were filled with reel-to-reel recordings he made as a sort of audio diary. Those tapes and his letters — read by the rapper Nas — lay the foundation for the director Sacha Jenkins’s documentary “Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues.”
COUNTERSPACE
Practitioner:
Cristina Morales
Date:
Aug 1 1919
Counterspace is an independent curatorial platform functioning as the first decolonial thinktank mapping cultural activism worldwide. It shapes collectively decolonial toolkits with common tools and resources, and a global directory browsable by continent, praxis, and social construct, as a Beuys-inspired ‘social sculpture’ revisited, and an alternative map of the universe.
Traveling While Black
Practitioner:
Felix & Paul Studios
Date:
Jan 25 2019
The theatre has luxurious red velvet upholstered seats, grand ceilings and gilded trimmings. The rows of chairs stretch back into the ostensible blackness, with light beaming from the projector room. Ahead, archival footage of stylish black travelers pack the screen as an unseen narrator discusses the hardships of mid-20th-century black travel.
Brinco
Practitioner:
Judith Werthein
Date:
Jan 11 2005
Creative Time, Social Practice Archive: Brinco is an art project, product, and intervention created by the Argentinean artist Judith Werthein for the 2005 inSITE Biennial held on the border of Tijuana and San Diego. Brinco—Spanish for "jump"—is a specially designed shoe the artist created for illegal migrant workers and immigrants who navigate the border region at night.

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