These projects all have short-term goals. Ideally each contributes to a campaign with a clear, well-defined path to a goal. Ideally, there are targets—people, institutions—that the project (and/or campaign) pressures and which, if pressured, can help achieve the goal.
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.
Facebook came under fire when its authentic-name policy led to San Francisco drag queen Sister Roma and others being barred from the social network. The policy allows users to report people they believe are using fake names. This caused a stir when a group of drag performers suddenly found that their Facebook accounts had been deactivated. Among them was Sister Roma, who had not registered on the site under her legal name, Michael Williams.
Born in Nigeria in 1975, Péju Alatise, is a multimedia artist focusing on the experience of women and girls, particularly in her native country but with resonance across the world.
“Hello,” says the news presenter, as she effortlessly switches from Spanish to English to give her audience a summary of the day’s biggest stories. With her clear intonation, smart appearance, and friendly-yet-serious expression, she seems the very image of a news anchor. Except, perhaps, for her name.
Siempre Unidas is a feminist collective in the state of Quintana Roo (Mexico) that works partly through street art. In 2021, in response to the femicide of Victoria Salazar – a refugee from El Salvador who died in police custody – the collective began an anti-femicide mural project called RestaurAmoras.
On a recent eight-hour shift at a McDonald’s in Hong Kong, Luke Ching, 52, wiped tables, cleared trays of half-eaten fries, emptied cups of soda and milk tea and lugged bulging trash bags to the dumpster.
For him, the main goal of the part-time work was not making ends meet. It was research for his main pursuit: using art to advocate for better treatment of people in menial jobs in a city with one of the widest income gaps in the world.
