Projects tagged "Civil Liberties"

Giving the World a Middle Finger
Practitioner:
Ai Weiwei
Date:
Jan 1 2005
Ai Weiwei is a Chinese artist and activist. He has been vocal and openly critical of the Chinese government’s stance on democracy and human rights. His work has captured global attention and served to bring attention to social injustices, human rights violations and systemic violence. Ai never shies away from saying what he truly feels and he encourages people to state exactly what they want.
When an orchestra director negotiated his cachet in trees
Practitioner:
Claudio Abbado
Date:
Sep 9 2009
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.
Multiple perspectives of protest turning violent, into riots
Practitioner:
#blacklivesmatter
Date:
Apr 26 2015
The two sources linked in this post are separate reviews of the incident currently occurring in Baltimore. It illustrates the factor of hindsight.... what supposedly began as a peaceful protest, in one article, is portrayed as clearly intended to fight back for #blacklifesmatter... however, "(CNN)The arrest and death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore has stoked protests and accusations of police brutality.
Call out sites displaying ICE recruiitment adverstising
Practitioner:
Various independent actors in Santa Cruz, CA.
Date:
Sep 8 2025
ICE [Immigration & Customs Enforecement] is now heavily recruiting, in part with offers of a $50,000 signing bonus. ICE has run roughshod over the Constitution, targeting people via racial profiling, failing to give people their constitutional rights of due process, and whisking them off to prisons abroad.
Schoolwork, advocacy place strain on student activists
Practitioner:
Brown University Students
Date:
Feb 18 2016
Two weeks ago, the University released the final version of its diversity and inclusion action plan, which could not have been compiled without the exhaustive efforts of students throughout last semester.
Art, Advocacy, and Action: Luke Ching's Crusade for Labor Rights in Hong Kong
Practitioner:
Luke Ching Chin Wai
Date:
Jan 1 2024
Luke Ching Chin Wai is a conceptual artist and labour-artivist in Hong Kong. Since 2013, he has worked undercover in different low-paid jobs in the city, including as a security guard, supermarket cashier worker, and metro cleaner to learn about poor people's working conditions. He then uses these experiences to create art and push for improved labour rights.
Pilobolus Vote Project
Practitioner:
Pilobolus (Dance Company)
Date:
Oct 21 2012
The Pilobolus Dance company, famous for their beautiful aesthetics of shadow play formed out of the dancer's bodies, started the #PilobolusVOTEproject, encouraging people to form the words VOTE with whatever material they had around them, take a picture of it and to upload it on instagram with the hashtag #PilobolusVOTEproject.
Suffrage
Practitioner:
Alice Paul
Date:
Mar 3 1913
Alice Paul, along with Lucy Burns, joined the National American Woman suffrage Association (NAWSA) in 1912. They were allowed to take over the NAWSA Congressional Committee in DC but were given no office or funds. For months Paul and Burns fundraised and significantly increased awareness for the cause. On March 3, 1913 (the eve of President Wilson's inauguration) Paul organized a parade, unparalleled in the capital.
The Courtroom Sketch
Practitioner:
Various Courtoom Sketch Artists
Date:
Feb 1 2021
Courtoom sketches were, for many cases, the only glimpses into high profile trails that captivated the nation. Now, over 200 of these sketches by artists will be in the Library of Congress, ranging from cases such as The Rodney King trial, the Watergate scandal, and the Allen v. Farrow custody battle. While the Nation's Library will be collecting these sketches for their historic value, many seek to buy the "art" as an investment.
Virtual Museum Law Conference on the Pandemic Effects
Practitioner:
Work from home Lawyers
Date:
Mar 15 2021
"Work-from-home lawyers and museum staff convened by webinar on 11 and 12 March, for an annual conference on Legal Issues in Museum Administration, hosted by the non-profit American Law Institute with the support of the Smithsonian Institution. This year’s focus was decidedly shaped by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has squeezed museums financially and pushed ever more museum activity into the digital realm.
Band Invoices US Government for Using their Music at Guantanamo
Practitioner:
Skinny Puppy
Date:
Feb 1 2014
Veteran Industrial band Skinny Puppy have objected to their disturbingly dark music being played to discombobulate inmates at Guantanamo, and plan to “charge” the government for doing so. They are not the first band to express such objections.
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.
The Wheelbarrow
Practitioner:
The Wheelbarrow Collective
Date:
May 1 2020
Empathy may be the cornerstone of any Global Justice movement, but how do we cultivate the conditions for empathy to thrive? The wheelbarrow symbolises something universally useful, practical and pleasingly straightforward. A space to deliver things in an efficient and direct manner - no packaging and completely people powered.
1,001 chairs for Aiweiwei in Taipei
Practitioner:
Taiwanese artists and activists
Date:
Jun 4 2011
A large chair installation work featuring the Chinese name of detained artist and activist Ai Weiwei was set up in Taipei Saturday --the 22nd anniversary of the Tiananmen SquareMassacre -- to call for Ai's release. Bei Ling, an artist from China who has been barred from enteringhis home country since 2000, used 1,001 empty chairs to piece together the three characters of Ai's name in Liberty Square at 6: 04p.m.
Erasing the Border
Practitioner:
Ana Teresa Fernández
Date:
May 6 2011
From Public Delivery:
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.
Soviet Army Monument - REDUX
Practitioner:
various activists
Date:
Feb 23 2014
Since the beginning of Bulgaria's transition to democracy, the monument’s meaning and future has been the subject of heated debates. Opponents to the monument aren’t happy about the presence of such a dominating foreign army monument in the country that is situated higher and more central than national symbols. In recent years, the monument has turned into a canvas for anonymous political statements on multiple occasions.
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).
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.
Activsm, Artivism and Beyond; inspiring initiatives of civic power.
Practitioner:
Partos, The Spindle, The Broker, CIVICUS
Date:
Jun 26 2017
‘Activism, Artivism and Beyond; Inspiring Initiatives of Civic Power’
How Serbian activists started a nationwide anti-authoritarian protest during COVID-19 lockdown
Practitioner:
Civic Front
Date:
May 1 2020
For the past few years around election time in Serbia, people have taken to the streets to protest government corruption, attacks on free press and voter suppression. This Spring, despite a nationwide lock-down to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, activists are finding new ways to protest the country’s increasingly-repressive government.
Cannabis Social Clubs around the planet Earth
Practitioner:
Cannabis friends, Cannabis Social clubs, cannabis activists
Date:
May 4 2013
Message to the world. We are legalizing CANNABIS everywhere in the world, please support us. We are making PICTURES showing us as cannabis smokers or growers, and supporting the legalization. In France, the movement becomes bigger and bigger, check this public profile of a french leader of the CANNABIS SOCIAL CLUBS to see how it looks : https://www.facebook.com/dominique.broc
This is America
Practitioner:
Donald Glover/ Childish Gambino
Date:
May 6 2018
(NEWS 8) — A day after pulling double-duty as both the host and musical guest on "Saturday Night Live," actor-writer-comedian-musician Donald Glover was garnering attention on Sunday for another reason. Social media blew up this weekend with reactions to Glover's new music video for "This is America," released under the name of his musical alter ego, Childish Gambino.
FACELESS
Practitioner:
MANU LUKSCH
Date:
May 13 2007
FACELESS was produced under the rules of the 'Manifesto for CCTV Filmmakers'. The manifesto states, amongst other things, that additional cameras are not permitted at filming locations, as the omnipresent existing video surveillance (CCTV) is already in operation.
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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