For generations, protest art has been used to galvanise people from different backgrounds to mobilise for a cause. Following are the examples of art forms used as a means of bringing about change:
Music: From ‘Revolution’ by The Beatles to the rap of Azaadi, notes of dissent have reverberated around the world. Music has always been a peaceful yet effective way of breaking the shackles of patriarchy or the systems of hierarchy. These chants of resilience are a fusion of traditional instruments like dhol and tabla and the contemporary music of guitar and drums. Freedom movements and class struggles have for long used music as a tool to garner support.
Dance: The soft and lyrical movements of dance have been used as an instrument of social activism. From America’s Isadora Duncan to India’s Mallika Sarabhai, dancers across the world have used their art form to resist ‘the authority.’ Dance can be considered a vibrant performing art, instrumental in bringing a social change.
Picture Credits: isadoraduncan.org
Paintings: One image can speak thousands of words where voices are squashed and news is fabricated. Rebellion and art have always gone hand in hand. From Pablo Picasso’s depiction of the Spanish Civil War to Norman Rockwell’s painting of Ruby Bridges to Andy Warhol’s social commentary. Each artist has used their skills to show stark realities of life that have been normalised.
Andy Warhol’s painting suggesting how art is sold like soup stacked in a grocery store
source: cansforlife.eu
Sculpture: When you say sculptures, one’s mind immediately wanders to the David by Michaelangelo or some mythical creature made in marble standing or gazing or sitting. While this stands true, many sculptures also imbibe in them social commentary. The most memorable sculpture being that of the three legged chair outside the United Nations in Geneva or the Fearless Girl thats standing in the middle of Wall Street in U.S.
Sculptures made by Emma Kwasnoski, '20, at Lehigh University to draw attention to the issue of racial inequality. Source: thebrownandthewhite.com
Comics: Cartoons as a form of art has flourished in the recent 20th century but has been around since the 17th-18th century. One of the first caricature artists being William Hogarth used this form to provide commentary and not comic relief. Hogarth created eight sets of sequential images on "A Rake’s Progress”. Now we have several series and single picture caricatures such as the series Doonesbury by Gary Trudeau and newspaper columns such as Business as Usual by Unny.
“The Heir” by Hogarth: a son who lavishes in the fortune left behind after his father’s death. Source: wikipedia.org
Street Art: What started off as tagging, scratching and
scribbling on walls as a form of rebellion in the US, is today a powerful form of artistic expression all over the world. In India, as well, it was used to express dissent (by Artist Daku) a decade ago, against Mumbai police’s moral policing in clubs and bars. It has now spawned a culture of its own, with popular artists like Daku and Zine establishing themselves as cult legends today, making waves beyond borders. However, when it comes to street art as a form of political expression, since the 1970s, the real impact has been made in Kashmir.
A graffiti on the shutters of an abandoned building in Bengaluru’s Church Street.
Picture Credits: Sharan Poovanna/Mint
Memes: From Harambe to Spongebob to Pepe The Frog, ‘memes’ are the millennial form of expression. Memes have become such an influential part of today’s media culture that not only independent content creators, but brands alike use it today as a way of connecting with the internet using audience. The
use of memes for expressing political opinions only seemed natural given the reach and popularity of the medium. In India, memes have gained popularity on
Instagram and Facebook, with many pages regularly posting topical content.
Source: indiatimes.com
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