Actipedia | A Wiki for Creative Activism

India’s new comic ‘super hero’: Priya, the rape survivor

A new comic book with a female rape survivor as its “super hero” has been launched to focus attention on the problem of sexual violence in India. Priya’s Shakti, inspired by Hindu mythological tales, tells the story of Priya, a…

Kwentong Bayan: Labour of Love (Community- Based Comic Book)

Practitioner:
Althea Balms, Jo SiMalaya Alcampo

Kwentong Bayan: Labour of Love is a community based comic book project, created by Toronto-based artists Althea Balmes (Illustrator) and Jo SiMalaya Alcampo (Writer) in close collaboration with caregivers and supporters, about the real life stories of Filipina migrant workers…

Autonomy Cube

Practitioner:
Jason Applebaum, Trevor Paglen

Pursuing the possibility of emancipatory use of technology, Paglen, together with Jacob Appelbaum, developed Autonomy Cube (2014). Autonomy Cube is a sculpture and internet router designed to be housed in civic spaces. The sculpture is meant to be both “seen”…

The Drone Project – A Participatory Memorial

Practitioner:
Joseph DeLappe

Media artist Joseph DeLappe announces the completion of “The Drone Project: A Participatory Memorial” on the campus of Fresno State University in California. DeLappe worked for 2+ weeks on campus with over 100 students, interns and local volunteers to construct…

Room13Delmar

Practitioner:
Ilene Berman

Room13Delmar is a tricycle-based mobile studio conceived as a sculpture: a cross between a vending tricycle and a ‘Mary Poppins’ bag that unfolds to create a space for creativity on the sidewalk, at a senior center and at a veterans…

Buses in Seoul install ‘comfort women’ statues to honour former sex slaves

Practitioner:
Dong-A Transit bus company

Buses serving several routes in central Seoul have acquired a new and highly controversial passenger: a barefoot “comfort woman”, wearing a traditional hanbok dress with her hands resting on her knees. Appearing on the front seat of buses in the…

Brides March Against Domestic Violence

Practitioner:
group, Josie Ashton

“Over 200 women, many dressed in bridal gowns, joined the Brides March through Manhattan on Tuesday, an annual event aiming to draw public spotlight on the often hidden scourge of domestic violence. Prior to the march, the women lined up…

Tom of Finland

Practitioner:
Touko Valio Laaksonen

Touko Valio Laaksonen (8 May 1920 – 7 November 1991), known by the pseudonym Tom of Finland, was a Finnish artist who made stylized highly masculinized erotic art, and influenced late 20th-century gay culture. He has been called the “most…

Kozaburo contemplates Japan’s spiritual history for AW21

Practitioner:
Kozaburo Akasaka

In the four years since launching his eponymous label, Kozaburo Akasaka has established himself as a leader of New York’s new guard of fashion designers. In 2017, just months after graduating from Parsons’ prestigious Fashion MFA programme, his tailored silhouettes…

Visual Sovereignty: Unpacking Nicholas Galanin’s ‘Never Forget’ Installation

Practitioner:
Nicholas Galanin

For Nicholas Galanin, a Tlingit and Unangax̂ artist and musician, memory and land are inevitably entwined. The 45-foot letters of Never Forget reference the Hollywood sign, which initially spelled out HOLLYWOODLAND and was erected to promote a whites-only development. Its…

Santorum

Practitioner:
Dan Savage, The Stranger

“The campaign for the neologism “santorum” started with a contest held in May 2003 by Dan Savage, a columnist and LGBT rights activist. Savage asked his readers to create a definition for the word “santorum”[1][2] in response to then-U.S. Senator…

Activists Use Balloons to Drop 10,000 Copies of The Interview Into North Korea

Practitioner:
Park Sang-Hak

A group of South Korean activists is determined to send copies of The Interview across the North Korean border, despite threats from the state to respond with “cannons or missiles” if the plan succeeds. Around March 26, the dissidents will…