Editors' Statement: Public Art as Political Action

• Published in: Public art dialogue 2018-07, Vol.8 (2), p.139-141
• Main Authors: Cartiere, Cameron, Wingate, Jennifer
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activism; Activist art; Political violence; Politics; Public art; Violence
• ISSN: 2150-2552; 2150-2560
• DOI: 10.1080/21502552.2018.1500207

Say what you will about the 2016 US presidential election, the results certainly have made Americans get up and move. From the Million Woman March on the day after the inauguration to high school students across the country staging organized walk-outs and rallies in an effort to bring about new gun-control legislation, people are taking to the streets. But the unrest and uncertainty in our contemporary times does not rest solely on the doorstep of the White House. It has been coming in waves of populist protest from the Arab Spring to Black Lives Matter. Sometimes peaceful, sometimes violent, it feels as if we are experiencing a global shift along a political and social spectrum that is set to redefine our planet. But in these times of radical change, there is wisdom and inspiration in history. In 2018 we mark the 50th anniversary of the 1968 student protests in Paris that launched waves of protests around the world. Students in the United States marched against the Vietnam War and students in Mexico protested the use of military force on campus. There were civil rights rallies and political protests, but there were also assassinations and massacres and mass arrests. It was a turbulent year that permanently marked the social and political fabric of the globe.