PROTEST

The Art of Making a Point... Violently

GRETA THUNBERG AGAINST A CANADIAN POLITICIAN

COMMENTS CALLED "MEAN"

UN-PROTESTS

The Oxymoron of Calm Protests

Just Stop Oil

Risposte Alimentaire

MARCHING FOR CHANGE: PROTEST AS REVOLUTION- OR JUST NOISE?

In recent times protests inside museums and near places of culture have increased significantly.

Very often these acts are overlooked and therefore forgotten by the public.

For example: how many acts of protest against art works, such as paintings, do you remember? We imagine only a few.

Although protests are often forgotten, they do occur. The underlying reason is serious and deep: these activists want to be heard. Activists do not only protest in museums and are not only interested in works of art, however they are not heard and understood, especially by the media, where they are hated and insulted. Social media often wonders: do their protests have a positive effect?

GRETA THUNBERG AGAINST A CANADIAN POLITICIAN

We often ask ourselves when watching the news if the protests have the intended impact. The answer from our point of view is doubtful. On one hand, they are certainly catching the attention of the media, and whether it be good or bad, they are spoken about. Their aim is to get the message that art is more important to some people than the fact that the earth is polluted and there are many people in the world who have no food and water.

COMMENTS CALLED "MEAN"

On the other hand, while carrying out this type of protest they receive a lot of hate in the media due to their actions and they are often criticized. Rather than gaining people's approval for their actions, many activists distance themselves from their ideals, as they do not agree with their way of doing things.

We believe that the protest methods used by activists are not effective. What do you think?

In our opinion, activists are wrong to throw food at works of art. As examples of this act of vandalism we bring to you an event that happened in October 2022 to Van Gogh's Sunflowers, two girls, using tomato soup as their weapon of choice, ruined the frame of the painting and also that of the Mona Lisa which on May 29th of the same year was stained with whipped cream.

We cannot make a link between the protest for climate change and food waste.

In conclusion, we believe that the protests are much less effective than the damages caused to the paintings. That's why we agree on the fact that there are more negative reactions to protests than positive ones.

UN-PROTESTS

The Oxymoron of Calm Protests

Nowadays protests have become part of our everyday life, we see activists on the news (and even on our way to work), we find the so-called green propaganda and our schools organize strikes. We’re surrounded by protests all the time and this leads to very different reactions from the public. One would think that the media has finally learned to welcome activists’ actions, yet they still criticize protests and more often than not paint activists as the crazy-radicalised ones.

But does this mean that protests don't work and we should change our way of protesting?

Well, seeing the current situation, protests have been received not only with criticism but also with fear. It is impossible to forget the CEO of the UnitedHealthCare who was attacked and killed by Luigi Mangione, a man that, convinced of the corruption of the sanitary institution, decided to track down and murder Brian Thompson. This act of protest and self-justice brought together the working class and it shifted the attention on the problematics in the industry and on the need of public discussion. However the violence in Mangione’s doing upset the public opinion, the higher classes felt intimidated and the meaning behind Luigi Mangione's actions were hidden behind his cruel attack.

But violence is not the only way of protesting that is welcomed negatively, often people need much less.

Imagine going to work, one Monday morning, (maybe you're also rushing because you're a little late) and after turning left you see a group of activists, sat on the street and blocking the way. This type of protest is clearly not violent but it draws attention as it disturbs the public. Because of this, people often forget about the activists cause and only focus on the disruption they've caused to their everyday lives. Protesters have also tried creating organized protests in squares, but the reaction didn't change. Over the years the institutions and the police were sent to try and block the protests and it led to violent results; many people, also students, ended up being beaten up with truncheons and other arms and the protests have become very dangerous.

BUT WHAT ABOUT ART?

In recent years, artworks have become the target of protests by many groups, such as Next Generation and Just Stop Oil. These groups, who usually fight for environmental causes, have found a way to get to the public's eye by throwing food or paint on art works, but this modus-operandi raised eyebrows and became a controversial topic as the ethical implications upset the media. Among the many times this has happened, a few incidents stood out and captured the public's attention, making them particularly important.

Just Stop Oil

In October 2022, Just Stop Oil activists threw tomato soup on Van Gogh's Sunflowers (1888) at the national gallery in London. They wanted to make a statement on oil and gas usage, and they glued themselves to the museum's wall.

Risposte Alimentaire

In May 2024 an activist from Risposte Alimentaire stuck a poster on Monet's Coquelicots (1873) . The picture was meant to show what awaits us in the future if no alternative is put in place. The painting was protected by a glass, but this act of protest, along with all the others, had an intense effect on the public.

It is clear that this method has caused a great fuss, public opinion is divided and some even question the legal rights of the activists to protest this way. Many suggest they should find another quieter and calmer way, but should they? And can calm protests really exist or be as effective? We don't think so.

After all, you can't really protest if you lay low; a protest can't and shouldn't be calm nor quiet, it can't fit into the public's standards, the aim of a protest is to be the exact opposite. Protests are created to draw the public's attention on a specific problem, they shouldn't be watered down to become easier to accept, otherwise a protest would lose it's whole point.

Finally, we wanted to point out how society is getting used to this kind of protest too. Because we all know that when something is frequently repeated the risk of it becoming unaffective is high and ironically it's the same reason why protesters started targeting artworks: the shock value. The moment they noticed that streets, squares, schools and universities marches were not working they decided to change methods and began to attack companies, like Tesla, and our beloved artworks. When these too will become the norm, the target will change again.

This is clearly a topic that causes individuals to reflect on ethical values, which are subjective and personal. Whilst our opinion on this topic is shared by many, a lot of people have a different point of view. Because of this, it remains a very debated and controversial topic.

So...What do you think?

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