Swedish lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates offered their colorful stance on Russia's controversial anti-gay legislation over the weekend.
Claudio Abbado was an Italian orchestra director (1933 - 2014) who served as chief director at La Scala Theater in Milan from 1968 - 1985. After 18 years of absence, in 2009, he was invited to conduct a concert there. He accepted upon condition that, instead of paying him a monetary honorarium, the city would commit to the planing of 90.000 trees in the city of Milan.
Xiao Lu was one of the most influential women in contemporary Chinese art, better known for provoking performance art works and sharp social commentaries. Her works address sensitive social and cultural issues that counter mainstream attitudes and values. In 1989, she put her work "Dialogue" up for exhibition at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing.
The creative fusion of art and activism in urban spaces has propelled the British collective Led by Donkeys into the spotlight, garnering millions of views for their interventions on social media. Their critical visual occupations - whether billboard messages during the day or large-scale projections at night - raise a compelling question: which medium holds the greater persuasive power?
During the 2020 and 2021 social protests in Chile, Colombia, and Peru, Latin American fans of K-pop, Korean popular music and culture that mixes rhythms, styles, dance routines and has a defined aesthetic, went from using social networks to support their favorite artists to using them to sabotage the hashtags of conservative influencers that discredited the mobilizations.
National Public Radio (NPR):
There's no historical marker outside Jacob Lawrence's childhood home in New York City's Harlem neighborhood.
But Khalil Gibran Muhammad, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, has an idea of what it might say: "Here lived one of the 20th century's most influential visual artists, a man named Jacob Lawrence, who was a child of southern migrants."
Whether your family’s traditional dress is a Mexican huipil, an Indian saree, or a Scottish kilt, where do you usually wear these clothes?
In Ukraine, the traditional attire is a vyshyvanka. Typically made of cotton or linen, these shirts feature embroidered patterns along the front, collar and sleeves.
The “Occupy Men’s Toilets” movement, initiated by Chinese feminist activists including Li Tingting (Li Maizi) and Wu Rongrong, emerged in 2012 as a creative, non-violent protest against gender inequality in access to public facilities.
Kanami Kusakima, also known as the woman who dances in Washington Square Park with the long black hair and the paint, was happy to allow the Mayor's Office of NYC use her image as a promotional tool for a "post-coivd" New York. Yet, she has had multiple encounters with police who want to shut her performance down.
Food transcends language—it brings people together, bridges cultures, and tells stories words cannot. In early March, the Razom Advocacy team, alongside renowned Ukrainian chef Olia Hercules, embarked on a journey through Louisiana—visiting Shreveport and New Orleans—to foster connections, celebrate Ukrainian culture, express gratitude to local first responders, and advocate for Ukraine.
Most nights since a coup returned Myanmar to military rule on Feb. 1, a spectral symbol of protest has glowed on a mildewed side of a building.
Where the next illumination will appear in Yangon, the country’s biggest city, is a mystery. But, suddenly, a projected image appears in the dark. Three fingers raised in a rebellious pose. A dove of peace. The smiling face of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, whose government was ousted in the army putsch.
Kyiv, Ukraine (CNN) — The leaders of Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Poland have told Russian leader Vladimir Putin to agree to a 30-day ceasefire starting on Monday or face possible “massive” sanctions, according to French President Emmanuel Macron, on a highly symbolic visit to Kyiv. The demand comes with the backing of the White House after a joint phone call with President Donald Trump, the Europeans said.
‘Since Plotinus’, writes Joseph Tanke (2019, p. 486), ‘Western art has been consecrated to beauty, and beautiful art has been understood as the achievement of good form’. But alongside this interest in beauty and form, art has been committed to politics and perspectives, equity and rights. Consequently, and particularly since the start of the modern era, artists frequently initiate or participate in ‘difficult conversations’.
For Women’s History Month 2024, Hysterical Collective presented: Hysterical: Radical Creativity – the third instalment of the annual charity art exhibition and cultural programme taking place in March each year. Co-founded and curated by Eliza Hatch of Cheer Up Luv and Bee Illustrates, Hysterical is a queer and feminist-led exhibition and event showcase; centred around community, collaboration, and activism.
Collective Creativity in the Beginning
Project Row Houses (PRH) is, and has always been, a unique experiment in activating the intersections between art, cultural and historic preservation, affordable and innovative housing, community engagement and development, neighborhood revitalization, and human empowerment.
Urban Landscape as Canvas
When the U.S. government came after Anglea Davis, art came to her defense. Targeted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as one of its “10 Most Wanted” in 1970, tracked down, jailed and accused of three capital crimes, artists and activists around the world rose to her defense. She would be found not guilty on all counts.
On September 27, 2022, a song by Iranian musician Shervin Hajipour ‘broke’ Persian social media. Hajipour posted a video on Instagram of himself singing a song for the mass protests that began in Iran following the death of Jina (Mahsa) Amini. Its lyrics were composed of tweets from members of the Iranian Twittersphere explaining what the protests meant to them, what they were fighting for and what was at stake with the hashtag #برای (for the sake of).
Street artist, graphic designer, and activist Shepard Fairey created this visionary portrait of then Senator Barack Obama in 2008 as a form of grassroots activism to support Obama’s first presidential campaign. Fairey based the work on an Associated Press photograph by Mannie Garcia, which he transformed with his signature high-contrast stencil technique, inspired by the political message and bold graphics of Soviet Socialist Realism.
Human rights activism relies on an ability to tell stories to diverse audiences that will inspire action toward justice. Distributing information through journalism, whether it be traditional or new media, is the standard method of raising awareness. Globalization and the movement of people means that activists and artists from affected communities may cooperate to mutual benefit and find new audiences in the process.
It was 1967, and sentiment against the Vietnam War was in the air nationwide. The counterculture was flourishing on the heels of the Summer of Love. Organizers from Mobe — the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam — initially called for a massive march on Washington.
Unleashed by anxiety over the pandemic, the nationwide rise in anti-Asian hate has served as a call to action for many Asian American artists to take a stand: To actively challenge the historic negative stereotype of the vice- and disease-ridden Yellow Peril; to dismantle the pernicious and divisive myth of the model minority that pits achievements by Asian Americas as judgements against other communities of color; and to advocate for social justice, eq
Natalie Ball’s work challenges dominant stories of Native American identities, taking to task the historical and visual legacies that misrepresent what it means to be “Indian.” She dives deeply into Indigenous histories and forms of knowledge, the use of language, and a wide range of materials—including animal hides, clothing, and synthetic hair—to create a new narrative around Indigenous experiences and identities.
The Immigrant Yarn Project (IYP), organized and created by Cindy Weil was a massive work of public and democratic (crowd-sourced), yarn-based art honoring our immigrant heritage and promoting tolerance, difference, and community. Weil reached out across the state and beyond to collect yarn-based creations by immigrants and their descendants.