ACTS OF RESISTANCE: PHOTOGRAPHY, FEMINISMS AND THE ART OF PROTEST

This urgent and political exhibition explores feminism and activism from an international and contemporary perspective. Looking at different approaches to feminism from the past 10 years, the show highlights shared concerns including intersectionality, transnational solidarity, and the use of social media and digital technology as a tool for change.

Acts of Resistance will reflect on recent events from across the globe, such as anti-rape protests in Bangladesh responding to the rise in violence against women and girls in 2020; the US Supreme Court overturning of Roe vs Wade in 2022; as well as the ongoing protests against the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.

Acts of Resistance seeks to decolonise feminism and offer a more pluralistic idea of a female-led movement. It also shows photography’s value as a powerful tool of protest – fast and free to distribute, accessible anywhere, and able to reach a global audience no matter what language they speak.
– The Guardian

I was most impressed by Figure 8, Northern Ireland's Peace Women, by Hannah Starkey, a series of photographs celebrating the important role they played in radicalisation and peacebuilding in Northern Ireland during and after the political and civil strife. In order to avoid pointing the camera at the nannies' faces, the photographs record the nannies' reflections on the table below their shoulders. This refers to the power of 'having a seat at the table'. I like this metaphor, it's very clever.