Acts of Resistance: The Power of Art to Create a Better World

Amber Massie-Blomfield

Hardcover | 14.4 x 2.6 x 22.5 cm | 272 pp

Footnote Press | 2024 | 9781804440513

In Acts of Resistance, Amber Massie-Blomfield writes about the artists who have treated the protest site as their canvas and contributed to movements that have transformed history - from the musicians in Auschwitz to the four-year Siege of Sarajevo, from the to ACT UP's 1989 invasion of the New York Stock Exchange, to the Niger Delta and indigenous communities in Bolivia.

Including stories and artists from across the globe, including Susan Sontag, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and Claude Cahun - alongside collectives, communities, amateurs and anonymous creators who have used their art as an expression of resistance - this fascinating book asks what is the purpose of art in a world on fire? Why are artists compelled to paint, write, dance and make music, even when the odds are stacked against them? And how can artistic creation be a genuine form of political resistance?

Combining cultural criticism, history and memoir, Acts of Resistance is an urgent reminder that art can make a human life more bearable, and can be a means of building the things that a person needs to survive the bleakest circumstances. It is a testament to that idea, and to the people who have risked their lives to prove it is so. While their stories are remarkable, they are also a reminder that each of us can use creativity in defense of our humanity.

'A fascinating, passionate and political case for art's world-changing power, by a fizzingly good writer' Robert Macfarlane

'A rich and broad overview of socially purposeful art. Everyone interested in social change should read it' Brian Eno

In this passionate and timely book, Amber Massie-Blomfield [shares] the beauty, anger and invention with which artists have defended and expanded our idea of what it means to be a social species. Massie-Blomfield's reflective, joyful and rousing argument is seriously, hopeful encouragement' Toby Jones

For those already convinced of art's political potential, Acts of Resistance serves as inspiring affirmation. For open-minded skeptics, it provides compeling grounds to reconsider dismissed possibilities. For all, it illuminates how creative spirits everywhere remain undimmed, even facing history's harshest glares' Nitin Sawhney

'Artists can be the guardians of truth. Through their work and public commitments, they are part of the struggle for social and economic justice, universal human rights, and for the protection of the earth's riches. Amber Massie-Blomfieid's book tells the stories of some of the most notable artists whose work has made a lasting contribution in this epic battle' Ken Loach

'A passionate and personal exploration of the tricky relationship between art and activism around the world, full of surprising stories of hope and resistance in dark times' Dorian Lynsky