Art For Change – The Role of Protest Art as an Act of Solidarity with our Fellow Animals – Helen Barker & Phillip McCulloch-Downs – Art Of Compassion Project

We discuss how protest art has always been an effective and vital tool in the fight for cultural, social and political change. Using examples of art activism, which has been used in social justice movements for centuries, we examine its historical use as a tool of dissent, and its vital importance in working to counter mainstream rhetoric and for standing in solidarity with the oppressed.

We examine the visual culture which has informed the dominant worldview of society’s relationships with other than human animals. Sharing insights, learned from years working as artists for liberation, we suggest how activists and organisers can use art as a significant part of their fight to dismantle societal norms and harmful narratives around animal use.

We address the challenges of making ‘art for animals’, and outline how our movement can use creativity, in all its forms, to resist and subvert those cultural norms. We especially highlight the importance of how our work needs to amplify our fellow animals’ own voices, as it positively creates a vision for a better world for all.