In 2021, as the Covid pandemic pushes the world to its brink, more than 82 million people worldwide are fleeing wars, armed conflicts and violence, but also drought, oppression and poverty. The inhumanity they are encountering continues at the borders of Western states, and protesters worldwide are being arrested and murdered for calling for freedom. Indigenous communities around the world are still oppressed and suffering from (post-)colonial injustice. In today’s globalized world, we learn about many of these atrocities the moment they happen. Far too often, they feel like nothing more than numbers; these acts of injustice seem to be taking place in a different world far away and don’t affect us at an emotional level. But the moment we leave the impersonal space and enter the emotional space of art, our empathy is set in motion, we take another look, and we listen.
With this exhibition, we want to show the wide spectrum of human rights violations taking place worldwide and the different ways in which people are protesting against them, as well as the artists reflecting, translating and conveying this resistance. We want to show that each and every one of us can help to combat injustice in this world.
