Disobedient Objects at London

31/07/2014. V&A [LON] UK 26/07/2013 - 01/15/15
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA

The V&A will this summer present the first exhibition to explore objects of art and design from around the world that have been created by grassroots social movements as tools of social change.

Inflatable cobblestone, action of Eclectic Electric Collective in co-operation with Enmedio collective during the General Strike in Barcelona, 2012. Photograph © Oriana Eliçabe/Enmedio.

Inflatable cobblestone, action of Eclectic Electric Collective in co-operation with Enmedio collective during the General Strike in Barcelona, 2012. Photograph © Oriana Eliçabe/Enmedio.

Graffiti Writer (Robot for writing street graffiti), Institute for Applied Autonomy, USA, 1998. Courtesy of Institute for Applied Autonomy.

Andy Dao and Ivan Cash, Occupy George overprinted dollar bill 2011. Courtesy of Andy Dao and Ivan Cash.

Guerrilla Girls. Image © George Lange.

L J Roberts, Gaybashers, Come and Get It, USA, 2011. Courtesy of Blanca Garcia.

Bike Bloc Graphic Poster. Anonymous. Photograph © Victoria and Albert Musem, London

Installation Image, Disobedient Objects, © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Bone china with transfers printed in green, bearing the emblem of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). Photo © Victoria and Albert Musem, London.

Installation Image, Disobedient Objects, © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Occupy London Stock Exchange, Capitalism is Crisis banner. Used 2009-12. Photograph © Immo Klink.

Ed Hall, Banner for UNITE the union at the march in support of the NHS in Manchester. 29th September 2013. Courtesy of Ed Hall.

Installation Image, Disobedient Objects, © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

of the Zapatista Revolution, The Zapatista, Mexico. Photo © Victoria and Albert Musem, London.

The Bread and Puppet Theatre, Tableau of three puppets. Photo © Jonathan Slaff

Imagen de la instalación, Disobedient Objects, © Victoria and Albert Museum, Londres.

Installation Image, Disobedient Objects, Image © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

From Chilean folk art textiles that document political violence to a graffiti-writing robot, defaced currency to giant inflatable cobblestones thrown at demonstrations in Barcelona, to a political video game about the making of mobile phones, Disobedient Objects will demonstrate how political activism drives a wealth of design ingenuity. The exhibition will showcase forms of making that defy standard definitions of art and design. The objects that will be on display are mostly produced by non-professional makers, collectively and with limited resources as effective responses to complex situations.

Disobedient Objects will focus on the period from the late 1970s to the present, a time that has brought new technologies and political challenges. From a Suffragette tea service to protest robots, this exhibition will be the first to examine the powerful role of objects in movements for social change. It will demonstrate how political activism drives a wealth of design ingenuity and collective creativity that defy standard definitions of art and design. On display will be arts of rebellion from around the world that illuminate the role of making in grassroots movements for social change: finely woven banners; defaced currency; changing designs for barricades and blockades; political video games; an inflatable general assembly to facilitate consensus decision-making; experimental activist-bicycles; and textiles bearing witness to political murders.