Recently the fundamental right to protest is under increasing threat, from governments worldwide, including western democracies and in the UK itself.

Art and design has always been at the forefront of protest. It is the method injustices are exposed and it is the way we articulate new, and often difficult, concepts. It is the place where we express our differences and come together to find common ground. Without art and design protest is just shouting (or worse).

What does this mean for us all?

“With a collection dating back to the 1960s, the Museum of UnRest is displaying it’s archive of iconic screen-printed posters, marking the struggle against climate breakdown, the cost of living crisis, housing shortage, and more.” Sudi Jama, It’s Nice That.

The Right to Protest Exhibition uses historical and contemporary protest posters and artwork to describe how important protest is (and has been) to our culture. And, in turn, how important art and design is to protest.

We should remember without protest we would not have a Welfare State, nor an NHS. This happened because of protests like the hunger marches, when marchers made banners and posters which described the starvation and deprevation they were suffering.

The Right to Protest Exhibition is a call to arms to all artists, designers and citizens. If we don’t defend our Right to Protest we’ll lose it. And, once it’s gone, we’ll have no say on how we want society to develop and no way of fighting oppression.

“The exhibition is a reengagement with design’s radical past, and a call to arms in a world where our right to protest is under threat,” John Phillips, Creative Review and Design Week.

Smile, it’s time to protest.