How the arts capture joy and galvanise resistance within human rights movements
The jfa editorial board
For people around the world, the arts are able to bridge language barriers - especially when it comes to understanding human rights struggles. It offers its viewers a window into another person’s experiences without requiring them to explain themselves perfectly.
Traditional news of human rights tends towards calloused or oversimplified narratives. Art goes beyond this narrative by allowing for the expression of complex emotion in ways that headlines and words cannot always capture. Such varied mediums are able to capture both joy and resistance around the world and bring human rights issues to the forefront.
For example, El-Funoun, a Palestinian dance troupe, embodies both joy and resistance through the preservation and celebration of traditional dance. In Thailand, where political dissent carries harsh consequences, artists have found ways to voice their opinions through satirical illustrations and rap music.
In some movements, art shows up in public spaces as a symbolic way to reclaim spaces for human rights. In France and Belgium, autonomous groups paste feminist messages on walls across their cities during the night. In Beirut, Lebanon, graffiti has been written in public squares to voice both resistance against political corruption and hope for a more equal future.
These examples demonstrate the importance of art as both an accessible medium that transcends borders and as a symbolic embodiment of the global perseverance for human rights.
Dance
El-Funoun Popular Palestinian Dance Troupe use traditional dance and music heritage to resist Israeli occupation.
El-Funoun was founded in 1979 with the intention of safeguarding Palestinian dance, music, and heritage from “expropriation and loss”. The group has continued their work amidst bannings of Palestinian art under Israeli occupation and has played a crucial role in the preservation of traditional folklore heritage through their work, as well as through the initiation of ‘Palestinian Folklore Day’ that falls on October 7 of each year.
Noora Baker, a former dancer who now heads El-Funoun’s training and production, told Dance Magazine, “Life under occupation is difficult. Yet with that difficulty comes challenge and resistance for us. El-Funoun is a collective, believing in humanity and justice, striving to set a good role model in its society.”
El-Funoun’s current productions can be found here.
Art in public spaces: graffiti
Blue graffiti [in Beirut] reads ‘Oh my beautiful country.’ Photographed by Nohad Elhajj for Open Global Rights.
In Beirut, street artists have spread messages for human rights, demanding for political and social change across the city’s infrastructure.
In his article for Open Global Rights, Nohad Elhajj writes that “graffiti, as a visual act, then can be leveraged as a participatory and accessible medium to shift public perspectives on human rights issues.” The messages being written include demands for women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, worker’s rights, and resistance against harmful and corrupt political happenings, among others.
Elhajj also notes that the overwhelming physical presence of the graffiti has placed human rights as the centre of discourse “right in the middle of an already contested political and social scene.”
He remarks that the positivity underlying these messages is a strand of light that can finally be grasped and held onto by various human rights groups - a continuing hope amidst perseverance for a better future.
Art in public spaces: collage
In France and Belgium, several collectives under the name Collages Féministes create collages that consist of pasting feminist messages on the walls of public spaces. The aim of the collages are to raise awareness about femicide, homophobic violence, rape culture, sexist and domestic violence, violence against women and other marginalised groups, and more. The collages are typified by large, bold black or red letters on top of white backgrounds.
“I have the right to live a free life without violence”. Photograph from @collages_feministes_bruxelles.
The origins of the collages are unclear, although it is considered to have possibly begun in France in the 1970s. It recently became popular again when the collage movement was “reborn” in France in 2019 after the country recorded its 100th femicide. This quickly spread to neighbouring Belgium.
There are autonomous groups that exist in different cities across France and Belgium, and articles say the medium has further spread to Germany, London, Montreal, Poland and Syria. Each group is independent but many are in contact through social media. The Brussels group also hosts workshops to create slogans and prepare the letters they then paste on the walls. The work of these movements is also mostly produced at night, which is symbolic of resistance since women are told that being out at night is unsafe.
The collages are also a way for feminist activists to reclaim public spaces, especially those that are male-dominated. In a statement to Basta Media, one bar patron commented on a collage pasted across from a bar in Montmartre, Paris. “In 2020, public space still belongs to men,” they said, “These inscriptions allow us, women, to take back a little place. When we file a complaint for rape today, nobody listens to us. It is a way to be heard and especially seen.”
The groups of Collages Féministes in Brussels, Paris, and Nantes (to name a few) can be found through their dedicated Instagram pages.
“No feminism without trans people”. Photograph from @collages_feministes_bruxelles.
Art in public spaces: resistance art on statues
In June 2020, during the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, demonstrators turned a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, who fought to uphold slavery during the American Civil War, into resistance art in Richmond, Virginia. The plinth was named as one of the ‘most influential works of protest art since World War II’ by the New York Times.
A photograph of Breonna Taylor, projected onto the statue of Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va., July 2020. Credit: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA, via Shutterstock.
Various street artists and individuals added words and images to the massive plinth beneath the statue of the Confederate leader. Dustin Klein, a light projection artist, also projected images and videos onto the statue during nighttime. The images included the faces of Black people killed by police, as well as influential Black people in history.
Business Insider also reported on powerful photography taken in front of the reclaimed plinth. For example, author Tressie McMillan Cottom shared an image of two people dancing on Twitter.
In September 2021, the statue of Robert E. Lee was removed. NPR reported that while activists welcomed the statue removal, it was only one of their demands and was merely “symbolic”, while substantial action, such as removing police from schools, was still needed to change the “economic and social conditions of Black residents”.
Folk art and traditional clothing
Kyrgzystan
In Kyrgyzstan, traditional forms of art and music are used to fight for justice and a better future in the current state of political turmoil. In Kyrzyg culture, artists called akyns have used music, improv, and poetry to tell stories and bring news to people. They have existed since “before the days of modern governments'', as reported by Al Jazeera.
Kyrgyzstan has suffered decades of political corruption, prompting investigative journalists to work with akyns to create videos of artistic performances that expose corruption and provide political and social commentary.
“Akyns would sing the truth to the people,” Nur-Sultan Ymanbekov, an akyn, told Al Jazeera in an interview. “That is why I think us communicating with the people in this way is an achievement.”
Afghanistan
In Afghanistan, women have resisted the Taliban takeover by flaunting colourful dresses that are often worn while dancing. The campaign, called #DoNotTouchMyClothes on social media, is also an effort to reclaim traditional Afghan women’s clothing.
The campaign was started by Dr. Bahar Jalali, a former professor of history at the American University in Afghanistan. The traditional clothing of Afghan women is full of colour, and dresses include embroidery, small mirrors, and long pleated skirts that are used for twirling in Afghan’s national dance, called ‘attan’.
They are also a stark contrast from the strict clothing regulations supported by the Taliban. “The black burqa never has been a part of Afghan culture,” Spozhmay Maseed, a human rights activist, wrote on Twitter.
Illustration and satire for political commentary
Illustration: ‘Bangkok Tea Party’ by Land of Why.
In Thailand, artist Land of Why uses comedy and art to make public commentary about political affairs in Thailand.
The artist remains anonymous because of how dangerous it is to speak out, especially when it comes to criticisms of the Thai government or the royal family.
Through their work, Land of Why manages to embody the “collective” of Thai people that are interested in politics. Due to fear of retribution, the subjects that make up his work are whispered about in private, but the artist is able to take what everyone thinks and discusses in the private sphere and thrust it into the public sphere, with a touch of humour and liveliness.
Music
In Thailand, rap has also been used to combat authoritarianism and provide political commentary. One of these songs, “My Country Has” (“Prathet Ku Mee”) was viewed almost 1 million times in the 24 hours of its initial release. The 2018 song is by rap group RAP AGAINST DICTATORSHIP, whose members have created aliases for anonymity. Some of the rappers on the song also covered their faces in its music video.
The song includes lyrics that express dissatisfaction and commentary on Thailand’s military dictatorship, such as “My country’s parliament house is a soldier’s playground” and “You must choose to either eat truth or bullets”.
Poetry
In Myanmar, poets have become leaders of hope and resistance amidst struggles for democracy. Their work has captured the experience of protestors and the human rights abuses they have faced.
Many poets have also been targeted by the police and by the military junta. Poets have faced arrest, abuse, and have even been killed.
One of the slain poets, K Za Win, was killed on March 3, 2021. A memoriam for him can be found on Green Violin, along with one of his poems written during detainment, called a letter from a jail cell. The poem was printed in March, the month the poet was killed, and was translated from Burmese into English by fellow poet Ko Ko Khett.
Film and Documentary
Film and documentary are powerful and impactful mediums for bringing the stories of human rights issues to global audiences, but they are also expensive to produce. Oftentimes, film and documentary creation is reserved for those who can pay for it, which can also result in misrepresentations of certain struggles or “trauma porn” that is sensationalised.
‘Little Palestine (Diary of a Siege)’, a documentary by Abdallah Al-Khatib, is an instance where the filmmaker has reclaimed space in the film industry to tell his story. The documentary is a ‘filmed diary’ of daily life in the largest Palestinian refugee camp, Yarmouk, in Damascus, Syria.