LONDON.- The exhibition 'Acts of Resistance: Photography, Feminisms and the Art of Protest' which looks at contemporary responses to photography’s long-standing association with feminist resistance has gone on show at the South London Gallery. This collaborative exhibition between the SLG and the Victoria and Albert Museum, (V&A) as part of the V&A Parasol Foundation Women in Photography Project, opened on International Women’s Day on 8 March 2024.

Acts of Resistance brings together works by over 16 international artists and collectives who are using the camera to challenge and move beyond traditional modes of protest photography. This exhibition addresses different approaches to feminist practice which have emerged over the past decade, a period which is discussed as having generated a ‘fourth wave’ of feminism. The show explores the extent to which this relates to feminisms across different regions and begins to map common concerns including expanding intersectionality, transnational solidarity, and the use of social media and digital technology as a tool for activism.

The exhibition 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. In 2020, anti-rape protests were staged in Bangladesh in response to the rise in violence against women and girls. In 2022 the US Supreme Court overturned Roe vs Wade, the landmark piece of legislation that made access to abortion a federal right. Today, women in Iran continue to protest against the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the wake of the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman who was arrested in September 2022 for not following Iran’s strict female dress code.

Presented thematically, the show begins with work that addresses the still salient issue of a woman’s right to bodily autonomy. Drawing upon thousands of archival photographs, American artist Carmen Winant considers the labour of women’s health clinic workers and abortion care providers across the Midwest in the US. Iranian artist Hoda Afshar explores the symbolism of images circulating on social media to stage portraits which reference the ongoing women's rights protests in Iran.

The exhibition also explores the notion of institutional failure and the varying role of power in structural oppression. Italian Australian artist Raphaela Rosella, alongside several co-creators— her family and friends—confront bureaucratic forms of violence enacted by the carceral state in Australia. Their counter-archival process resists ‘official’ state records by recentering intimate relations of love and care that transcend the boundaries of carceral institutions. South African artist Sethembile Msezane’s practice explores issues around spirituality, commemoration and African knowledge systems.

Revisiting feminist histories is a further thematic section of the show. American artists and activists Tourmaline and Sasha Wortzel's work Happy Birthday, Marsha! 2018 pays homage to the transgender rights activist Martha P Johnson and their role in the Stonewall uprising in 1969. Apsáalooke (Crow) artist Wendy Red Star surfaces alternative indigenous histories in her exploration of the Crow Indian Reservation which imposed a patriarchal structure of land allotment on the matrilineal Crow society.

The exhibition’s final theme focuses on feminist futures. Indian artist Poulomi Basu envisions the future of the planet in relation to women’s existential rights to water, fire, earth and air; highlighting how a lack of access impacts women’s education, reproductive justice and climate change. In her High Heels Project (2011-) Japanese artist Mari Katayama created high heeled shoes for prosthetic wearers, through long-term collaboration with many individuals and corporations. Posing a fundamental question about the body in society, the project demands freedom of choice as a basic premise open to all, regardless of whether they have a disability or not.

Acts of Resistance also includes the work of artists Laia Abril, Guerrilla Girls, Nan Goldin, Sofia Karim, Zanele Muholi, Aida Silvestri, Sheida Soleimani and Hannah Starkey.

The exhibition is accompanied by a public programme curated by writer and activist Lola Olufemi.

South London Gallery
Acts of Resistance: Photography, Feminisms and the Art of Protest
March 8th – June 2nd, 2024