I have written before about artists using their voice to protest violence against women, and women putting their feelings of injustice into their art. I generally like to highlight forgotten and overlooked women artists, especially when looking at history books and even art galleries where female representation is low. Art has been used for several years to decry the lack of political support women have received throughout the years, to protest laws that are actively used against them. When their voices were not heard, they used art to vent their frustration and put them in public spaces whenever possible. But change is slow, and political change even slower because it also depends on who is in power. The top most gender equal countries according to the 2023 Global Gender Gap Report are: Iceland, Norway, Finland, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany. You can find a summary of the report at the BBC. In Iceland "25 of the last 50 years have seen a female head of state and that 48% of its parliament members are female" (Source: BBC). For the last eight years, the Norwegian prime-minister has been female and again, there are several women holding key positions in government. That is a common pattern in the more gender equal countries.
So how is it that when given a chance, some countries fall back on ingrained familiar patterns. They vote against their best interests because it is almost as if they did not know what their best interests are. They lack the knowledge and education to connect the dots and deduce the outcome. They have been fed so many lies, it is hard to discern and separate it from the truth.
When reading about Politics and International Relations, you read a lot about history, negotiations, case studies and what went right and what went wrong during meetings and negotiations. Ultimately, it boils down to “because we are humans, we are not infallible” and we think with a human brain and heart. Every judgement we make is affected by our experiences, our baggage and what we THINK might work. We learn from history, theories, books and talks, and then we learn how to apply our knowledge and try to gain as much experience as possible during our careers through hits and misses. You then take a course in Neuroscience and Psychology to delve further into a human mind. All those fleshy bits, chemicals, and synapses in charge of your every move, your thoughts, your actions and reactions. You learn how the brain creates connections from repetitive actions and thoughts and how it is that cults are able to brainwash someone, or an entire population, to believe in something that is not true. Basically, reality is an illusion, and it takes individuals with sociopathic tendencies in positions of power, positions they conned their way into, to manipulate half an entire country’s population into believing they are what is best for said country. There are individuals of unappetizing character interwoven into different positions in society who willingly do the job of bending weak willed individuals, or exploiting that hatred that is already budding in their hearts and brains and ensuring it grows into something poisonous that in the future will turn them into perfect soldiers, destroying everything they hate with State granted permission; spreading fear wherever they go with utter disdain for human rights and individual expression. Not caring about their friends, neighbours, family, turning them in without a second thought if they go against their beliefs. This has taken place throughout history. This information is accessible to anyone who can read. However, when those in power burn books, defund education, kill that ability to read, learn, and research; distracts a population with reality TV, streaming as many shows on demand as possible where people are binging for hours, not picking up a book, mindlessly scrolling through social media, learning dances, watching pranks, accidents, scrolling past a protestor, then back to dances. There are also those who are struggling and are working two three jobs to survive that they simply put their heads down thinking everything is hopeless and they just need to get through one day at a time. Some people believe that no matter who is in power, the poor people will always suffer.
I have read in many sources that Poverty is Political. The rich become richer and politicians contribute to that with their policies. This is something I will let you research as there are many sides to this. Amnesty International is a good place to start.
Creative thinking classes are being cancelled left and right, critical thinking and analyses is not being properly taught, all those classes that would teach you how to shield your brain from being brainwashed from when you were young are becoming almost non-existent. Parents working two three jobs don’t have time to teach their kids, check on them, see who they are hanging out with, who they are learning from and what are they learning, what are they getting up to online, who are their influences. Schools are all about putting future workers into their little boxes and sticking to their chosen lane. Teach the bare minimum to get them out of the system and into another system.
A power-hungry person is not just interest in local power; they want to take it as far as possible. They are generally megalomaniacs too. It has far reaching consequences when someone like that is in power, especially when manipulated by people in the shadows. Faceless powerful rich people. Some, not so faceless as they are equally sociopathic and attention seeking individuals. But it’s the shadows that are more concerning. What can you do against shadows, how do you fight them? Some optimists will say “by shinning a bright light”.
During times of duress, there are certain type of artists that are more vocal whose voice reaches out further than others: writers. They write manifestos, innocent looking fables that generally have a much deeper meaning, fairy tales, and so on and so forth, which is why books are the first ones to get banned and be burned. Knowledge is power. Words are power. Words can become songs that become anthems that people sing during long arduous nights. You can create chants, almost like enchantments and incantations to rouse people and unify them under a common goal, a rallying cry. Words have power.
Toni Morrison said:
This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair. No place for self pity. No need for silence. No room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.
Needless to say, her books are frequently on the ban list as she generally discuses the Black American experience and themes of injustice.
Wikipedia has a list of banned books if you are interested in a quick overview. It is not up to date as it is missing banned books from the USA after 2010 and in recent years, different states have their own list of banned books.
During times of peace, the right to freedom of speech is respected and although political art can have an effect on the population, they don’t generally give rise to revolts or organised peaceful protests. But in times of dictatorial, fascist regimes, art can be that spark that ignites a revolution. They will show people the bitter truth and function even better as an eye opener. They will show people the reason they are miserable, going hungry, and half their family has lost the right to education, the right to be who they are, or have even lost bodily autonomy. They denounce the government and have a comeback to every political situation, including corporate greed, as those two are often intertwined.
Egyptian cartoonist Doaa Eladl and her political cartoons are generally about women's rights and politics. She was charged with blasphemy in 2012 by the Egyptian government for insulting Adam from the Bible and the figure of the Prophet in the Muslim religion.
Atena Farghadani is an Iranian artist and activist who was first arrested in 2014 for depicting the absurdity of the Iranian family planning law and spreading propaganda against the system, and insulting members of parliament in her paintings. She was released in 2020 and was arrested once again on April 13, 2024 where she was beaten unconscious. She has been sentenced to 6 years for "attempting to hang one of her political cartoons near the presidential palace in Tehran."
Tamara Djurovic went by Hyuro, was an Argentinian street artist who painted large murals throughout Europe. Her style was part of the activist muralism movement and she usually depicted faceless women and questioned the system in which we live in. She looked at social injustice and the place women occupied in society and the family. Because she generally painted in countries where freedom of speech was respected, she was never arrested, or beaten, unlike the previous Egyptian and Iranian artists.
In times of peace, artists are able to express themselves freely as they are protected by the right of freedom of speech. This right is usually revoked under oppressive regimes that persecute, and sometimes execute, anyone who is vocal about the injustices being carried out. Artists brave enough will find a way of getting themselves heard and can be that spark that ignites a revolution. Activism through art can be powerful enough to trigger social and political change. If you are interested in reading further about Art and Activism, you can visit The Center for Artistic Activism.
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