Projects tagged "Shifts (culture)"

Shifts the cultural landscape in order to imagine and enable change.

In Mexico, Women Go on Strike Nationwide to Protest Violence
Practitioner:
Feminist Organizations
Date:
Mar 9 2020
MEXICO CITY — Tens of thousands of women vanished from streets, offices and classrooms across Mexico on Monday, part of a nationwide strike to protest the violence they suffer and to demand government action against it. The women’s absence from public spaces was intended to be a reminder that every day, 10 women in Mexico are killed — and so disappear forever, organizers said.
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No to War! Peace & Love!
Practitioner:
No name
Date:
Sep 27 2026
These two works on canvas were made with my own blood, using the severed distal phalanx of my index finger as the painting instrument. They are connected to my solo anti-war action in Copenhagen in September 2026. Their central messages are “No to War!” and “Peace & Love!” The index finger—the finger used to pull a trigger—became the central symbol of my refusal to participate in aggression and the killing of other people.
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Menstruation Terrorism
Practitioner:
Kashafa Khan
Date:
Feb 7 2006
Menstruation Terrorism is the act of frightening folks with the visibility of menstruation.
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Rave Against the Right
Practitioner:
Görlitz Stays Colorful collective
Date:
Jul 31 2023
At first glance, it seemed like any other Monday evening in Görlitz, the most eastern town in Germany — where Poland sits just across the river. It was July 31, and a couple hundred people had gathered as part of the so-called Monday demonstrations to protest refugees, the COVID-19 vaccine and the government’s green energy politics.
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Invisible Women - A World Designed for Men
Practitioner:
Caroline Criado Perez
Date:
Mar 7 2019
The problem with feminism is that it’s just too familiar. The attention of a jaded public and neophiliac media may have been aroused by #MeToo, with its connotations of youth, sex and celebrity, but for the most part it has drifted recently towards other forms of prejudice, such as transphobia. Unfortunately for women, though, the hoary old problems of discrimination, violence and unpaid labour are still very much with us.
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Art as a Mirror: Zhang Huan’s 'Family Tree' and Its Reflections on Cultural Identity
Practitioner:
Zhang Huan
Date:
Oct 11 2000
One of the most critical artists on the contemporary art scene is Zhang Huan. His works are of great social insight and unique in how he applies his artistic expression. He thus makes them an almost visual feast with a peek into the multilevel structure of modern society. One such work is the masterpiece "Family Tree," which shows how art can mould our social cognition through multilayered symbolism and profound imagery.
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Black Lives Matter Plaza in DC
Practitioner:
Rose Jaffe
Date:
Jun 5 2020
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser renamed a street in front of the White House “Black Lives Matter Plaza” and had the slogan painted on the asphalt in massive yellow letters, a pointed salvo in her escalating dispute with President Trump over control of D.C. streets.
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A Guide to the Afrofuturist House Music of Dirty Bird
Practitioner:
Dirty Bird / gum.mp3
Date:
Apr 15 2021
In 1996, filmmaker John Akomfrah created the character of the Data Thief as a narrative device to offer an insightful study of Afrofuturism in his film The Last Angel of History, which links Black musicians including George Clinton, Derrick May, and Sun Ra to Akomfrah’s thesis about the role of technological fantasy in Black artistry across genres and mediums.
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Freedom riders
Practitioner:
Hundreds
Date:
May 4 1961
The first legislative victory of the Civil Rights era was obtained by hundreds of people going where they weren't invited. In 1961, Black and white Freedom Riders, well trained by SNCC in nonviolent action, rode Greyhound buses from Washington DC southwards primarily in order to wait, together, in waiting rooms that were still unconstitutionally segregated.
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Carlos Slim Laugh Machine
Practitioner:
new yorkers, The Yes Men
Date:
May 9 2013
Inspired by the Laughing Farmers of Karnataka, protesters in New York make Carlos Slim's visit to New York uncomfortable while he appears on a "Live From NYPL" program. This excellent video summarizes the action.
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art in odd places festival NORMAL
Practitioner:
art in odd places
Date:
May 14 2021
Immersing in the art is what they are known for. As they slowly reopen, so is their annual public art and performance festival. Their mission statement says:“AiOP reminds us that public spaces function as the epicenter for diverse social interactions and the unfettered exchange of ideas.” The title of NORMAL is to push the boundary of what is.
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The AIDS Memorial Quilt
Practitioner:
Cleve Jones
Date:
Oct 11 1987
Cleve Jones's powerful vision for memorializing those lost to AIDS was realized in October 1987 in Washington D.C. It showcased the artistic contributions of people who'd lost loved ones to the virus from a number of US metropolitan centers. The quilt has continued to grow for the nearly 40 years since. By 1992, the AIDS Memorial Quilt included panels from every state and 28 countries.
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Lil Baby “The Bigger Picture”
Practitioner:
Lil Baby
Date:
Jun 12 2020
Lil Baby, a popular American rapper, released a song titled "The Bigger Picture" in 2020 in response to the Black Lives Matter movement and the protests that took place following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer.
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I Love You America
Practitioner:
Sarah Silverman
Date:
Oct 12 2017
Sarah Silverman Wants to Pop Your Bubble With her new political variety show, “I Love You, America,” the stand-up comic aims to unite red and blue. But can TV really change minds? By Jason Zinoman Oct. 4, 2017
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Love Queer Cinema Week (aka the Beijing Queer Film Festival)
Practitioner:
Students of Beijing University, Beijing Queer Film Festival commitee
Date:
Dec 1 2001
Founded 19 years ago, the Beijing Queer Film Festival (aka Love Queer Cinema Week) is one of the grassroots film festivals in China focusing on independent queer film screenings and cultural exchange activities. We aim to expand public discussions on sexuality / gender identity / gender expression, we aim to give a platform to sexual and other minorities in China and the World, and we celebrate diversity.
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Ace Bank
Practitioner:
Liat Berdugo
Date:
Oct 1 2006
ACE Bank was a hoax bank developed as part of a bigger campaign by Netwerk Vlaanderen, a Belgian organization concerned with banks’ responsibilities for what they invest in. ACE bank was an elaborate deception, with a headquarters in central Brussels, parodying other banks. It claimed to be investigating whether there was a market for its special way of doing business.
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Colin Kapaernick
Practitioner:
Colin Kapaernick
Date:
Sep 1 2017
In early 2016, I began paying attention to reports about the incredible number of unarmed black people being killed by the police. The posts on social media deeply disturbed me, but one in particular brought me to tears: the killing of Alton Sterling in my hometown Baton Rouge, La. This could have happened to any of my family members who still live in the area. I felt furious, hurt and hopeless.
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Dismaland
Practitioner:
Banksy
Date:
Aug 17 2015
Dismaland was an experimental and interactive art installation that mimicked and mocked similar attractions and characters of the Disney franchise. He later referred to it as a ‘bemusement park.’ Although the bemusement park seemed to disappear as suddenly as it arrived, the exhibition lives on in the collective memory of the British public.
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Birds Aren't Real
Practitioner:
Gen Z
Date:
Dec 9 2021
In Pittsburgh, Memphis and Los Angeles, massive billboards recently popped up declaring, “Birds Aren’t Real.” On Instagram and TikTok, Birds Aren’t Real accounts have racked up hundreds of thousands of followers, and YouTube videos about it have gone viral. Last month, Birds Aren’t Real adherents even protested outside Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco to demand that the company change its bird logo.
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Semiotics of the Kitchen
Practitioner:
Martha Rosler
Date:
Dec 31 1975
“Semiotics of the Kitchen” is a feminist video art that examines the symbolism of women's confinement within domestic spaces, utilizing the framework of a televised cooking show. In this piece, Rosler assumes the role of an "anti-Julia Child," wielding a series of kitchen utensils in alphabetical order, some archaic and peculiar, assigning them arbitrary names before forcefully miming their use.
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High school senior running social media campaign for sexual assault awareness month
Practitioner:
Emilyn Lagger
Date:
Apr 17 2020
TOLEDO, Ohio — April is National Sexual Assault Awareness month. Everyone is being asked to stay at home during the coronavirus outbreak, but for victims of sexual and domestic violence, it can be dangerous. Notre Dame Academy senior Emilyn Lagger is using this time away from school to raise money and let victims know they're not alone.
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50 States, 50 Billboards
Practitioner:
For Freedoms and Kickstarter
Date:
May 1 2018
In 2018, For Freedoms commissioned billboards by artists across America ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.
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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:
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Harry Belafonte on His Artistic Values and His Activism
Practitioner:
Harry Belafonte
Date:
Apr 25 2023
Harry Belafonte, the singer, actor and activist whose wide-ranging success blazed a trail for other Black artists in the 1950s, died on Tuesday at age 96.
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The vital work of women street photographers
Practitioner:
Gulnara Samoilova
Date:
Mar 16 2021
In 2016, photojournalist Gulnara Samoilova was running a successful wedding photography business. Her diverse portfolio of work spans two decades — with images in the permanent collections of The New York Public Library, 9/11 Memorial Museum and Houston Museum of Fine Arts — but weddings had become her staple business. By the year's end, she'd decided to pack it in.
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