International Artists Launch 'Hands Off Our Revolution' To Counter Rise Of Right-Wing Populism
/
Anish Kapoor at the Lisson Gallery 24 March 2015 - photo courtesy film maker Laura Bushell
Over 200 leading international artists including Anish Kapoor, recently honored as Genesis Prize Laureate 2017, activist artist Marilyn Minter -- a key leader of anti-Trump protests in America, Steve McQueen, Laurie Anderson and more have publicly lent their names and support to the 'Hands Off Our Revolution' movement.
Top New York Artists Protested Outside Ivanka Trump's Soho Apartment Before Heading to Art Basel
Organized by artist Adam Broomberg, originally born in South Africa and now living and working in London and Berlin as a photojournalist collaborating permanently with Oliver Chanarin, the group articulates the mission statement for 'Hands Off Our Revolution' mission statement:
We are a global coalition affirming the radical nature of art. We believe that art can help counter the rising rhetoric of right-wing populism, fascism and the increasingly stark expressions of xenophobia, racism, sexism, homophobia and unapologetic intolerance.
We know that freedom is never granted – it is won. Justice is never given – it is exacted. Both must be fought for and protected, yet their promise has seldom been so fragile, so close to slipping from our grasp, as at this moment.
As artists, it is our job and our duty to reimagine and reinvent social relations threatened by right-wing populist rule. It is our responsibility to stand together in solidarity. We will not go quietly. It is our role and our opportunity, using our own particular forms, private and public spaces, to engage people in thinking together and debating ideas, with clarity, openness and resilience.
Lend your own support at the bottom of website landing page.
The collective behind 'Hands Off Our Revolution' will take action in:
A series of contemporary art exhibitions and actions that confront, head on, the rise of right-wing populism in the US, Europe and elsewhere. Exhibitions featuring critically engaged contemporary artists and taking place in central art institutions as well as alternative spaces, that will bring into public view statements, questions and reflections on the state we are in. To do what art has always endeavored: to help envision and shape the world in which we want to live.
Proceeds will go to arts & activist causes and building the coalition.
The artists movement was launched in reaction to contemporary events promoting nationalism like the Brexit vote, refugee crisis and the election of Donald Trump as president of the US.
“What is important is that it is not just seen as America’s problem, or Europe’s problem, so we are planning shows in Mexico and Lagos,” Broomberg told the Guardian. The first announcements of exhibitions will be released in March.
