Projects tagged "Civil Liberties"

Myanmar's Young Artists and Activists
Practitioner:
New Zero Artists
Date:
Mar 1 2012
In the country formerly known as Burma, these free thinkers are a force in the struggle for democracy. By Joshua Hammer Photographs by Adam Dean Smithsonian Magazine, March 2011
Against Excessive Quarantine
Practitioner:
The Dorr Brothers
Date:
Apr 1 2020
Protests against state stay-at-home orders have attracted a wide range of fringe activists and ardent Trump supporters. They have also attracted a family of political activists whom some Republican lawmakers have called "scam artists."
Students at March for Our Lives Wear $1.05 Price Tags to Call Out Marco Rubio
Practitioner:
March for Our Lives
Date:
Mar 24 2018
Students at the March for Our Lives rallies across the country and world today, March 24, are wearing a “price tag” of $1.05. The reason? March organizers have argued that $1.05 is the amount each student is worth to Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio.
Kissing Doesn’t Kill and other projects
Practitioner:
Gran Fury
Date:
Jan 1 1989
Gran Fury was an AIDS activist artist collective from New York City consisting of 11 members, all artists - but action, not art, was the aim of the collective. Gran Fury member Loring McAlpin described the collective's mass-market ambition to “...fight for attention as hard as Coca-Cola fights for attention.”
"White Square" Activists Gather in Red Square
Practitioner:
White Square
Date:
Apr 9 2012
<br>Care2.com April 9, 2012 By Sarah Vrba There have been regular protests in Moscow in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s re-election to the presidential seat in March. Early last month, thousands of protesters gathered in downtown Moscow in response to what they felt were rigged elections in favor of Putin. Over the last month, organizers have faced an uphill battle as they have attempted to keep protesters motivated.
50 People in 40 Square Meters
Practitioner:
Contemporary Art Center, Skopje
Date:
Feb 6 2016
In a case of voter fraud, an investigation revealed that the party in power had won fifty votes from the residents of a single apartment. A group of activists reproduced the apartment in a downtown square and invited 50 people inside. The action took just one part of the case, literally brought it into three dimensions, and showed the absurdity that this could ever be legitimate.
Rhythm 0
Practitioner:
Marina Abramović
Date:
Jun 1 1974
This is Marina Abramović's first attempt to interact with the audience on the spot, allowing the audience to become part of her work. Guns, bullets, kitchen knives, whips and other dangerous items), the audience can use any item to do whatever they want to her. Due to the unpredictable danger of the work, Marina promised to take full responsibility for the performance of the performance art.
It Never Ends: The Everlasting Battle on Fighting for Female Equality
Practitioner:
https://www.instagram.com/elreydelaruina/
Date:
Mar 8 2018
El Rey de la Ruina, aka The King of Ruin, is a local artist based in Madrid, Spain, who creates artistic activist pieces that range from the impact Covid-19 had on the social life of people in Spain, to the impact gentrification has taken on various groups of people. He tends to utilize (at least in his more recent pieces) bright colors and fun, geometric shapes in his art.
Art, Activism and the Age of AIDS
Practitioner:
David Wojnarowicz
Date:
May 15 1981
David Wojnarowicz as a Catalyst for Collective Action
Autonomy Cube
Practitioner:
Trevor Paglen, Jason Applebaum
Date:
Jan 1 2014
Pursuing the possibility of emancipatory use of technology, Paglen, together with Jacob Appelbaum, developed Autonomy Cube (2014). Autonomy Cube is a sculpture and internet router designed to be housed in civic spaces. The sculpture is meant to be both “seen” and “used.” Formally it references Hans Haacke's 'Condensation Cube' (1963-65).
Decolonize this Museum: Anti-Columbus Day Tour Attended by Hundreds at the American Museum of Natural History
Practitioner:
Decolonize This Place
Date:
Oct 9 2017
About: Hundreds of people came out to attend a decolonization tour of one of New York’s most popular museums. Written by Elena Goukassian on October 10, 2017
StopFake News
Practitioner:
StopFake
Date:
Feb 27 2017
To Battle Fake News, Ukrainian Show Features Nothing but Lies KIEV, Ukraine — The studio lights dim, and the anchor taps a stack of papers on her desk and directs a steely gaze toward the television cameras. What appears to be a nightly newscast is about to begin, only with a very Ukrainian twist: Everything is a lie, from start to finish.
Sunflower Seeds by Ai Weiwei
Practitioner:
Ai Weiwei
Date:
Oct 12 2010
Ai Weiwei's installation Sunflower Seeds is a profound commentary on both historical and contemporary issues through the medium of art. First exhibited at Tate Modern in London from October 12, 2010, to May 2, 2011, the work features an astonishing one hundred million handcrafted porcelain sunflower seeds, spread across the gallery's 1,000 square meter Turbine Hall to a depth of ten centimeters.
The Art of Heroin Bags
Practitioner:
VICE
Date:
Mar 28 2012
Heroin sold in the northeast, specifically in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey tends to come in little glassine baggies. The art comes from the individual and unique "stamp" on said baggie sold to a user.
Tim DeChristopher Thwarts a Land Auction (Bidder 70)
Practitioner:
Tim DeChristopher
Date:
Jul 27 2011
In December 2008, Tim DeChristopher, along with his church group, was protesting outside a Bureau of Land Management oil and gas lease auction of 116 parcels of public land in Utah's red rock country. Tim decided to take his protest inside and disrupt the auction itself. Instead, at the door, he was offered a bidder's paddle — which, after a split second of hesitation, he accepted.
Federal Trade Commission demands Elon Musk 'identify all journalists' who had access to Twitter Files
Practitioner:
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Date:
Mar 7 2023
he Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is demanding Elon Musk turn over internal Twitter documents, including a list of the journalists who were behind the viral "Twitter Files." The Wall Street Journal first reported Tuesday about more than a dozen letters the FTC sent to Twitter and its legal counsel as part of a probe looking into Musk's 2022 takeover of the tech giant.
Gangnam for Freedom
Practitioner:
Anish Kapoor and friends
Date:
Nov 22 2012
Earlier this year Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei recorded a gangnam style video, dancing handcuffed, sending a message to the Chinese authorities who responded by banning the video as soon as it came online. British-Indian artist Anish Kapoor
The Protest Banner Lending Library
Practitioner:
Aram Han Sifuentes
Date:
Jan 1 2017
The Protest Banner Lending Library is a space for people to gain skills to learn to make their own banners, a communal sewing space where we support each other’s voices, and a place where people can check out handmade banners to use in protests.
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:
Smuggling Books Across The Border
Practitioner:
Leila Abdelrazaq on ForThePeople
Date:
Apr 1 2016
For the People Artists Collective is a collaborative network of radical artists of color in Chicago.
Horrible bosses: masked activists publicly shame businesses in Bologna
Practitioner:
Il Padrone di Merda
Date:
Oct 1 2019
On a warm summer afternoon in the Italian city of Bologna, a group of around 15 young people march through the crowded city centre to a high-end pastry shop in Strada Maggiore.
Pussy Riot Was Carefully Calibrated for Protest
Practitioner:
Pussy Riot
Date:
Aug 22 2012
DEPENDING on your taste, punk died in 1979, or maybe 1994, or whenever studded leather cuffs became a must-have mall-girl accessory. Now, suddenly, punk has been resurrected, stitched together anew in the form of the well-accessorized Russian women who call themselves Pussy Riot.
I Have a Right Too...
Practitioner:
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
Date:
Oct 10 2014
CAM brings contemporary art and ideas directly to Saint Louis Public High School and Middle School students through its ArtReach program. Tailored to meet the needs of individual schools and teachers, ArtReach is designed to raise awareness of contemporary issues through an exploration of contemporary art. The program includes a curriculum-based offering of museum tours, school visits, and creative workshops for students and teachers alike.
Surf China’s Censored Web at an Internet Cafe in New York
Practitioner:
Dan Phiffer
Date:
Mar 1 2016
It may have been a while since you’ve set foot in an internet cafe, but a pop-up one on the Lower East Side offering free tea on top of free wifi is well worth a visit for a lesson in online freedoms.
Russian Feminist Punk Rock
Practitioner:
Pussy Riot
Date:
Feb 8 2012
Anti-government protests in Russia are taking many different forms, from mass rallies and marches to defiant street art and music. Just recently, members of a feminist punk group were arrested in Moscow's Red Square after they performed a song ridiculing Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The group, which calls itself Pussy Riot, says it's planning more stunts before March's presidential elections.

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