Disobedient Objects Exhibition

The Victoria & Albert Museum

 

Written and reviewed by Julia Massimino

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disobedient objects is an exhibition held in the V&A “about the art and design produced by grassroots social movements”. It is a collection of objects used in movements from worldwide activist groups between 1970s till present. The objects have hardly ever been displayed in a museum because they were never intended as works of art but as object of protest; making this a unique exhibition. The time for displaying this exhibition could not have been better due to the current protests occurring particularly in the Arab World. The theme through out the exhibitions is using simple accessible material to create an image that represents a certain cause. 

 

The exhibition is held in one medium sized room located in the corner of the museum’s entrance. You enter through an open gap between two large black boards. Once inside the room you are overwhelmed by the sounds of a video constantly playing, projected up against the back wall. Both paper and delicately woven banners with bold statements are hung from the celling. The room is divided by simple metal structures with choppy wooden panels. Most of the work is hung on these wooden panels. Quotes and some of the pieces are directly digitally printed on the wooden boards in a uniquely designed type-phase. The work in the exhibition ranges from objects like a small simple red feather from the Quebec student strike displayed in a wood and glass casing to a large Tiki Love Truck completely covered in colours and ornaments displayed in the corner of the room protesting against the death penalty. As you move along towards the end of the room most of the work is placed directly onto the wall. The room is dimly lit helping create a chilling ambiance to the exhibition. 

 

Work is scattered in every section of the room, constantly giving the eye something to look at which works in favour for the exhibition. However this can also cause some of the less discreet pieces to be over looked. It also made it slightly difficult, at first to notice which work belonged to which movement. The set up of the exhibition was well designed to not only help the viewers understand and read about the different movements but get the feel of the simplicity in the technique of the activist. The glaring sound of the video constantly playing adds to the exhibition as is creates the feel of being part of a protest. Much of the work is open, freely displayed and even interactive, making the viewers more involved with each piece. The layout of the room works to guide you through the exhibition, allowing you to still be captivated by each of the pieces. Although much of the work is text based, the viewers are still interested to read through each section to gain a deeper understanding of the movements. 

 

The aim of the curator of the exhibition is to show case art in the political and social world of protest. It is often believed that art and politics should remain separate however this exhibition filled with creative object that prove the importance of art in protesting.  Many could argue that simple badges and banners should not be presented as art in a museum but the Disobedient Objects exhibition was not intended to display ‘great’ works of art; it was made to show art in the outside world. 

 

Framed in glass are “Badges against Apartheid” made in South Africa and internationally around 1980-94. This, a small yet powerful piece displayed along the path of the exhibition walls. Rows of circular badges are neatly organised onto a wooden background. The simplicity of the piece is strong shows how objects that were quickly and easily made could be vastly distributed becoming icon of the protest. The badges become a way of connecting people globally that believe in the same cause.

 

 

In the far end corner of the exhibition a series of grey faces are stencilled directly onto the wall overlapped by the word ‘Freedom’ in Arabic. The piece was created by Zaher Omareen and Ibrahim Fakhri to represent the innocent lives of those lost in Syria. The technique used to display this is powerful in expressing the purpose of the exhibition as it captures the essence of art being used as a method of protest. Mimicking the techniques used by the protesters in Syria the viewer get a taste of what the street of Syria might be like and the struggles protesters have in expressing their freedom. Although these specific stencils were created with a finer material, the piece is accompanied by newspaper stencils showing the authentic creativity of the protesters. The artists wanted to remember the lives lost in Syria, not simply as numbers, but as individual faces. The many eyes staring at you play on your emotions as you gain an understanding of the struggles that Syrians have been experiencing. The position of the piece in the corner of the exhibition worked effectively in gaining the feeling of being restricted. 

 

 

The exhibition was a great experience to feel the how much work and thought goes into different aspects of activist groups. It shows the creative thinking behind their movements and how their designs were used in real life. For example the Silence=Death movement we are given the sketches of how the logo was designed and then shown methods they used to present the logo such as on T-shirts. There was even a newspaper cut out of protesters wearing T-shirts. The exhibition is worth the time of everyone; from people interested in political movements to people completely clueless about the matter. Not only does the exhibition as a whole make the viewer feel more involved with these social movements, they are able to take away ‘How-To Guides’ allowing the viewer to create their own versions of the objects exhibited. It is an effective exhibition in educating viewers of art, beyond the museum walls.