Over 1100 black “body bags” fanned out over a section of grass on the National Mall in Washington D.C. on March 24 in a plea for sanity. Each represented roughly 150 individuals who have died from gun violence since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14, 2018 which left 17 people dead and 17 more injured – most of the victims in their teens.
On August 16, 2019 thousands of women marched in various cities across Mexico. One particular case may have triggered them, but these marches were an answer to the systematic violence against women and girls in our country.
Francisco Goya created “The Disasters of War” from 1810-1820. These 80 etchings and aquatints show scenes from the Spanish struggle against the French army under Napolean Bonaparte, who invaded Spain in 1808. When Napolean tried to install his brother Joseph Bonaparte, as King of Spain, the Spanish fought back, eventually aided by the British and the Portugese.
This piece is fascinating because of its use of just a few words and country names, muted colors, and the recreation of famous art. The artist used this canvas to depict a concern about events happening in the Gaza strip.
“I want to show the people how bad the troubles were," says artist Muhiyidin Sharif Ibrahim of Mogadishu, Somalia. "That’s the message we’re going to send to people.”
(Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times)
Najah al-Bukai cannot forget.
As an accomplished artist in Syria before the war, Mr. Bukai had long thought his photographic memory was his greatest asset, allowing him to recreate scenes on his sketch pads and canvases days, months and even years after he witnessed them. But now, after he has survived two stretches in the Syrian government’s notorious detention centers, his sharp memories only serve to haunt him.
The Balloon Project, is a three-year-in-the-making Art Installation by Yan Kong in support of world refugees and migrants. It pays tribute to human spirit, courage and survival. The Balloon Project is a multimedia work incorporating mechanical engineering and visuals to fuse art and politics. 32 balloons inflate and deflate to simulate refugee and migrants' breathing while fleeing their countries to seek safety and freedom in the world.
Opponents of military rule in Myanmar have marched, observed "flower strikes" and sought alternative ways to communicate after most users were cut off from the internet, undaunted by the bloody suppression of protests during the past two months.
Forensic Architecture's Cloud Studies is a project that investigates the impact of toxic clouds on colonised and oppressed communities. The clouds, originating from sources like tear gas, industrial emissions, chemical weapons, and forest fires, often go unaddressed due to doubt and denialism.
Activism through print media is often done through duplication: posters, flyers, magazines, manifestos. But with these media, each individual duplicate holds the same, political message.
In Felix Gonzalez-Torres's "Untitled" (Death by Gun) (1990), a stack of posters are placed in the gallery space for people to take with them. As the pile is depleted, more posters are printed.
"A few months ago artists John Peña, Jon Rubin, and Dawn Weleski opened Conflict Kitchen, a take-out restaurant that only serves cuisine from countries that the United States is in conflict with. Nowadays the Iranian food is served at the counter. More precisely, the kubideh, a dish made of grilled ground meat in freshly baked barbari bread with onion, mint, and basil.
Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) was founded by Iraq war veterans in July 2004 at the annual convention of Veterans for Peace (VFP) in Boston to give a voice to the large number of active duty service people and veterans who are against this war, but are under various pressures to remain silent.
From its inception, IVAW has called for:
Jenny Hozler has mined declassified U.S. government documents for the series Redaction Paintings meticulously silk-screened works that depict blacked-out handprints of American soldiers accused of committing crimes in Iraq.
The One Billion Rising campaign is a global movement that's using dance to combat gender violence worldwide. Initiated by "Vagina Monologues" creator and women's activist Eve Ensler, the campaign will see cities across the world hold dance parties on Valentine's Day to raise awareness about gender violence and rape.
Republic of Moldova – “Before the war, Eva was a happy, carefree little girl, a first-grader full of joy who loved going to school, practicing taekwondo and drawing,” Olga recalls. Determined for her six-year-old daughter to have a joyful, stable childhood, Olga did all she could to help Eva thrive.
Renowned Cuban artist Tania Bruguera surprised a Bogota audience in September when she lined up three people directly involved in the Colombian conflict for a chat. The real performance however, started when a waitress emerged with a tray of neatly organised lines of cocaine, and began offering them to members of the audience.
TYRE NICHOLS WAS a photographer with an eye for the natural world. He was especially drawn to landscape portraiture, its calm and innocence. It is said that Nichols liked to crane his lens skyward, capturing what sunlight he could before it dissolved into the horizon. As he drove home after taking photos on January 7, he was pulled over by the Memphis police and what happened next was as tragic as it is terribly commonplace. Tyre Nichols is dead at 29.
“Gravity of Equilibrium” revolves around Mass Shootings in USA. Mass shootings and guns are an incredibly divisive topics, one that is nearly impossible to engage opposing viewpoints in a discussion about. The majority of gun related debates devolve into charged arguments with parties feeling threatened. This effectively creates an environment where new perspectives and inputs are unable to be processed.
As the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, hundreds of people gathered inside the Museum of Modern Art and outside of the Brooklyn Museum on Saturday for protests.
As a visual art student, I’m interested in hearing your feedback about this project. Thanks
We need to make a call to awaken humanity from their passivity and social indifference and acceptance of criminals who did commit crimes against humanity. When a human suffers we also suffer. Is only one Humankind I’m not from a different species.
This special EDition is a revolutionary chant against the menacing cantankerous demonic , satanic COVID 19. And again doubles as a bold and poetic supplication to the great Almighty God to release us off this pandemic bondage. This Edition is a poetically driven spiritual prayer for freedom of expression and freedom after expression.
The Spanish artist Santiago Sierra is planning to immerse a British flag in blood donated by indigenous peoples from countries colonised by the British Empire.
The resulting artwork, titled Union Flag, is intended to be an “acknowledgement of the pain and destruction colonialism has caused First Nations peoples, devastating entire cultures and civilisations,” the artist said in a statement.
India Ink [Blog]
The New York Times Global Edition
April 4, 2012
By Neha Thirani
The women of Gurgaon, angered by the recent incidents of violent crimes against women in the outsourcing boom town, are calling for a “Girlcott.”