A group of women wearing flowing red from head to toe stand and strike dramatic poses in a silent tableau. Or they form a procession. Every change of facial expression can be clearly seen as they wear mask-like white foundation make-up. In their headdresses, long robes, gloves and shoes, all scarlet red, they are an unforgettable and unsettling sight. Who are they, you might well ask, and what are they doing? Is this some kind of show, performance or spectacle? Yes and no. I would say it’s where performance art meets activism. The Red Rebels were founded seven years ago to witness to the climate and ecological emergency. Powerful performance is their chosen tool as they call (silently) on governments & individuals to act before it is too late. They attend a variety of events where they express themselves through mime or pose, and through colour. After all, red is a colour of power, drama, a colour that demands attention – although chosen by the Red Rebels to represent lifeblood.
As someone who spends a lot of time focusing on the visual, the Red Rebels’ chosen mode of activism strikes a chord with me. The performance itself would be an impressive spectacle, but here it becomes something far more important as it calls for change. Refusing to give up, turning to imaginative ways of getting through to audiences and breaking down barriers that may be about indifference or ignorance or despair.
When art becomes activism, not only can it be a powerful tool to engage audiences and spark conversation & action (all the more now that content depends on innovative visuals to drive engagement online). Not only can it cast fresh light on issues that may lose their urgency or impact over time as change seems only to recede. But it can also help individual wellbeing in the face of worsening news stories. So many people now, of all ages, are experiencing eco grief and climate anxiety as they feel disempowered and lose hope. Creative activism can become a way to reclaim hope, to assert yourself and to participate and act. Maybe all the more if you are not drawn by marching and NVDA. Grief and anxiety alike feed on inactivity & helplessness. But where human individual bereavement is absolute and specific, in eco grief there remains a chance for action. So much has been and is being lost, but not all, not yet. Eco grief can have more in common with anticipatory grief, yet here again, it is different, with its glimmers of turning things round. Performance art and other creative activism enables us to play a part in that turning.
The Red Rebels remind me of public performance art I’ve heard about in different settings and places and about diverse issues. I’ve seen images of a performance in Los Angeles in 1977, In Mourning And In Rage, when a group of women covered themselves entirely in black (with coffin-shaped headdresses) to condemn violence against women. Giving a campaign an unforgettable visual identity. And it doesn’t have to be all about performance. Yesterday I saw images of artwork by Ruth Urbanowicz, artist and activist with Christian Climate Action, entitled Ecological Stations of the Cross.
And arts, culture and creativity intersect with the climate movement in another way too – the controversies that still swirl around fossil fuel companies sponsoring arts venues and companies. Culture Unstained is one organisation campaigning for museums, galleries, theatre and ballet companies to break free of these connections. Their work mirrors the long-running campaign in the USA to halt arts funding by pharmaceutical companies held responsible for the opioid epidemic.
Performance, activism, imagination and hope.
Medley 