Artistic Resistance: A Comparative Perspective of Protest Art in Militarized Cities

Abstract

With the rise of militarization, governments around the world are subjecting cities and their citizens to increasing levels of securitization and violence. These policies limit inhabitants’ ability to use and control the urban spaces that they call home, a prominent theme in Lefebvre’s right to the city, leading many inhabitants to push back. This paper considers the role of public art in the conflict over state encroachment, using case studies of Baghdad after the US invasion in 2003, Rio de Janeiro before and during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and Minneapolis during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. In each of these cases, art plays a critical role in marking the city space with the grievances of the inhabitants and calls for social reform, reasserting the inhabitants’ right to city space.