Acts of Resistance at the SLG
Hoda Afshar, Untitled #14 from the In Turn series, 2023. © Hoda Afshar. Installation Acts of Resistance: Photography, Feminisms and the Art of Protest, 2024. South London Gallery. Photo: Jo Underhill
Documenting action, gathering evidence and aiding in the fight against injustices – photography has long been associated with acts of resistance. Acts of Resistance, a group exhibition at the South London Gallery, brings together photography and film by over 16 artists, working at the intersection of activist and feminist practices. The artists include: Laia Abril, Hoda Afshar, Poulomi Basu, Nan Goldin, Guerrilla Girls, Sofia Karim, Mari Katayama, Teresa Margolles, Sethembile Msezane, Zanele Muholi, Wendy Red Star, Tabita Rezaire, Raphaela Rosella, Aida Silvestri, Sheida Soleimani, Hannah Starkey, Tourmaline and Sasha Wortzel, and Carmen Winant.
Acts of Resistance reflects on key events such as the ‘Me Too’ movement, founded by the US civil rights activist Tarana Burke, which gained global attention in 2017. The movement catalysed societal reckoning as millions of women spoke out against sexual violence, bringing gender inequities and power dynamics into sharp focus. The artists in Acts of Resistance use their camera in disruptive ways, often analysing photography’s limitations and the ways in which it has been weaponised. Focusing on work made over the past decade, Acts of Resistance: Photography, Feminisms, and the Art of Protest displays an expanded commitment to understanding the overlapping nature of oppressions, while examining the internet as a tool of protest, community building and transnational solidarity.
Mari Katayama, just one of those things #002, 2021. C-print ©Mari Katayama
Guerrilla Girls, History of Wealth & Power, 2016. Copyright © Guerrilla Girls, courtesy guerrillagirls.com
Poulomi Basu, from the series Sisters of the Moon, 2022. Courtesy Poulomi Basu, TJ Boulting and JAPC.
Tourmaline and Sasha Wortzel, Happy Birthday Marsha!, 2018. Courtesy of the artists and Chapter NY, New York.
Acts of Resistance: Photography, Feminisms, and the Art of Protest is open at South London Gallery until 9th June 2024.