From riots in 1831 to the Colston statue and Kill the Bill protests, Bristol has long been a city renowned for radical action. Now, as then, radicalism has been accompanied by an outpouring of creative responses - from poetry to illustration to performance.

Now, Stories of Resistance, a new nine-part podcast series has been launched, uncovering some of Bristol’s lesser-known stories of contemporary activism. From the story of how one moment changed the direction of a grassroots boxing club, to a mother’s journey into disability activism, to changing the face of environmentalism and pushing for better gender representation in the music industry, these podcasts explore the stories of ordinary people fighting for change.

"What I noticed was by taking part in this project people discovered that there are so many people battling injustices and fighting against social injustices and yet so often don’t see themselves as an activist." Miranda Rae, Community Journalist

The series was created by Bristol residents during workshops with award winning journalist and broadcaster Miranda Rae (Sound Women SW and Ujima Radio). Over four months Miranda hosted group and 1-2-1 training sessions where participants learned how to produce, research, record and present a podcast.

The podcasts were commissioned as part of Art of Resistance, our two-year Heritage Lottery Funded project that has been exploring, documenting and celebrating the human stories behind activist movements in Bristol.

The podcasts will be distributed on Ujima Radio on Sundays  throughout January at 11am starting on 08 Jan throughout January 2023 and will include interviews with the creators as well as Dr Edson Burton, who is the driving force behind the project. Please note that the episodes may include language and topics that may not be suitable for all audiences.

Listen now on Spotify

Bristol Resists Mural by Tanith Gould - Image Credit: Sam Prosser

We are joining forces with Arts organisations from across Bristol to create #67MillionVoices, to raise awareness of the possible risks to the future of freedom of expression.

The right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association is a fundamental cornerstone of any democratic society in particular in Bristol as a city of civic action with everything from bridges to buses, supermarkets to statues forming the backdrop to centuries of resistance that has helped to advance workers and civic rights nationally.

Freedom of expression is a unique and precious liberty on which the UK has historically placed great emphasis in our traditions of Parliamentary privilege, freedom of the press and free speech. UK Government, July 2022

This is why we believe the introduction of the Public Order Bill risks criminalising our fundamental rights of freedom of expression - to share our views, to raise our voice and to take action. Proposed amendments within the Public Order Bill contradict this core British value by enhancing restrictions that can be imposed on people who take part.

Trinity is here not only to protect popular ideas but to also platform the breadth of opinions that makes up the world today and to safeguard against all forms of censorship as the most common violation of artistic freedom, in pursuit of our vision, creative expression for all. In a diverse city like Bristol with diverse perspectives, our personal freedoms start and ends where another person’s begin and we work to develop approaches that gently blur the edges between our freedoms to achieve peace and unity from producing creative content and providing space for conversation as well as helping people to develop the skills and networks they need to take action about the things that matter to them.

We are concerned that the proposed changes allow disproportionate use of powers to restrict and control in a way that contradicts our collective aims of freedom of expression, including banning orders to completely remove a person’s right to attend a protest. This is less about the rights and wrongs of toppling a statue. Throughout history and today people have protested in a number of ways to have their voices heard:

• The Suffragettes were always inventing new ways to keep their campaign in the public eye and often chained themselves to railings. The Public Order Bill would make it a new offence to "lock on" to others, objects or buildings, which would impact heavily in particular on environmental activists.

• The Trade Union Act of 1871 led to a flurry of striking across industries including coal mining and textiles, as new unions fought for better conditions which caused widespread disruption to industrial activity. The Public Order Bill would make a new offence to obstruct or interfere with the use or operation of key national infrastructure and major transport works, which would impact on the industrial action of groups such as transport workers and airline staff.

• Prominent Black Bristolians such as Paul Stephenson and Roy Hackett have made a huge difference to the advancement of UK civil rights. The Public Order Bill would make introduce new protest-specific stop and search powers, which would risk disproportionately targeting Black people who are are nine times more likely to be stopped and searched by police than white people.

Do we want to find ourselves in a position where people are too scared and would risk a hefty prison sentence, a large fine, restrictions on their ability to use the internet and electronic tagging of to prevent them from attending future demonstrations.

If we tolerate this, who in future will to stand up for the things that matter to us all?

Take action today

Locally and globally, the right to peaceful assembly and protest are fundamental principles of any democracy.We call on MPs to vote it down.

✔Write to your MP to ask them to protect your rights to peaceful protest, by asking that the proposed parts of the proposed Public Order Bill giving the police disproportionate powers to tackle lawful protests are removed.

✔Amplify our collective message on social media

✔ Get Informed - read the online timeline of events so far

✔Sign Liberty's petition to drop proposals in the Public Order Bill

#67millionvoices make culture - use yours today

#BristolResists #TrinityResists

After The Fire - Film by Matt Feurtado

After the Fire was an immersive exhibition programmed part of our free community party in Sep 2022 . Across nine hours, over 1200 people came along to watch performances from some of Bristol and the South West's leading underground musicians, take part in workshops and much more. The exhibition displayed stories and artwork collected as part of the two-year Heritage Lottery Funded project: Art of Resistance.

From women's rights, worker's rights movements to the recent environmental and BLM movements ,Bristol has long been known as an 'activist city'. We sat down with historian and writer Dr Edson Burton, curator of Art of Resistance, to understand the project’s important contribution to social history:

"After The Fire was a vehicle for showing the midway point that we had reached with the research for the project. We had some fantastic audio from the oral histories we’d collected with artists and activists as well as pieces of artwork that had been inspired by protest.

To my mind it was important to escape the gallery aesthetic, the white-wall space which we normally associate with art, which conveys a certain sense of art as separate from life, separate from lived experience and it has an intellectual and class connotation that might leave some people feeling like it’s not part of their world.

We also wanted to bring the space to life, in keeping with the post protest theme, to stir the embers. With this in mind, we commissioned some of Bristol's leading performers to share their work, acoustically, straight after the soundscape.

The title was inspired by James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time written in response to racial tensions and riots in 60s America. I wanted to create a sense of a space that carried the sense of the broken, the unfinished, the space after the revolt.

"Collecting archives, interviewing people, is like gathering priceless treasures. I say priceless because, in a sense, an interview is a capture of a voice that may not exist in years to come."  Dr Edson Burton

I didn’t want it to feel like, ‘here’s one space that says is about that area of protest and here’s another’ because one of the things that is really striking when you interview artists and activists is often their passions intersect. We found people that are concerned with the environment may also be involved with anti-racism, people who are working on LGBTQ+ rights may also see common cause with anti-racism, and so on.

When you create spaces, they are spaces not just for audiences, but for artists to link, to meet and discuss and share, to see and revive work. That’s such a vital part of why these projects are useful. There is a sense too, that we are curating and holding the experiences that might otherwise disappear. Despite the wealth of research that is available, there are still stories that sink, there are not passed on. Collecting archives, interviewing people, is like gathering priceless treasures. I say priceless because, in a sense, an interview is a capture of a voice that may not exist in years to come."

About Art of Resistance

Art of Resistance is a two-year National Lottery Heritage Funded exploring 100 years of social activism, protest and civil disobedience in Bristol and the art that underpinned each movement.

A new semi-permanent artwork created in collaboration with Tanith Gould – a local mural artist and member of Bristol Mural Collective - and the local community has been unveiled outside the People’s Republic of Stokes Croft building on Jamaica Street.

The mural is currently on display outside People’s Republic of Stokes Croft on Jamaica Street and will move on to Trinity next month to be displayed as part of Garden Party II on 18 September.

"This project has given people a platform to discuss issues they care about whilst also connecting them more deeply to their own beliefs and morals" - Tanith Gould

The mural, titled ‘Bristol Resists’, was created as part of a month long series of workshops teaching elements of mural design to the immediate community as part of our two-year long project, Art of Resistance, exploring 100 years of protest and activism in Bristol.

The mural was commissioned as piece of community art - made up of ideas from the public and around 50 participants over 3 workshops - featuring placards directly inspired by their submissions - to be displayed publicly across Bristol.

To create the mural, Tanith delivered a series of creative workshops, with the aim to provide a platform in which people were able to come together to discuss areas of social, political and environmental injustice and create a powerful piece of protest art in response.

Visions of Resistance launched at Trinity’s Garden Party back in May with a mural workshop. Participants were encouraged to think of artistic responses to the five research strands of the Art of Resistance project - Reclaiming the Environment, Women’s Equality, Counter Culture, Anti-Racism/Anti-Fascism and Working-Class Equality. These responses were expressed through a mix of mediums including collage, paint and printmaking.

The initial workshop at Garden Party was then followed workshops focusing on printmaking and collaging. These workshops encouraged participants to develop on the themes of protest and activist art with sessions focusing on printing radical imagery, slogans and lettering to make placards that represented social causes that resonated with them personally.

Tanith collated placards created during the workshops as well as illustrations representing significant moments in Bristol’s protest history such as the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston and the Bristol Bus Boycott to produce the final mural which represents a broad range of activism in Bristol over the last 100 years.

About Art of Resistance

Art of Resistance is a two-year National Lottery Heritage Funded exploring 100 years of social activism, protest and civil disobedience in Bristol and the art that underpinned each movement.

Photo credit Zack Henry

Photo credit Zack Henry

Photo credit Khali Ackford

Dr Edson Burton, curator of Art of Resistance, reflects on curating weekend of activity exploring creative and activism

The Final Frontier was a two-day festival, programmed as part of Art of Resistance, that celebrated the rich history of activism that has happened in Bristol. The festival, and the wider project, explored creative expression in relationship to political movements, ideologies and philosophies.

As the festival curator I have a conceptual oversight of the project and work closely with the wonderful team at Trinity to help build the relationships and coordinate the activities and also problem-solve the things that don’t go according to plan.

"...artefacts, they’re not just Benin Bronzes, they’re simple manifestations of a time"

Dr Edson Burton on 'Art of Resistance'

For the Final Frontier we wanted to curate a 'conference style' event to explore how creative outputs have been integral to particular protest movements. We invited contemporary artists and activists who use creativity as a form of protest to take part in Keynotes addresses, panel discussions and lead workshops. Guests included environmental activist Mikaela Loach, Bristol ‘artists and activists’ Doug Francis (Invisible Circus) Chris Chalkley (PRCS) and Michelle Curtis, plus comedian, programmer and tutor Angie Belcher (Aftermirth) whose recent calls for ‘comedy on prescription’ made headlines, and many, many more.

As part of the weekend, we curated a 'pop-up' mini exhibition that pulled together artworks that used different forms, textures and mediums that celebrated the different kinds of protest that have happened in Bristol. These drew upon the key themes of the wider project including workers' rights, anti-racism, anti-fascism, women’s equality and counter-culture (people breaking out of the mainstream, expressions of living that counter the societal norm). We picked those movements because what was key with a project like this is trying to look at a broader span of mass participation.

We were able to display pull-out banners from The Central Library that charted the history of the suffragette’s movement in Bristol alongside a number of placards from the Black Lives Matter March of 2020 that the Mshed had collected following the protests of 2020. These are simple wood and cardboard placards on posts - that’s the irony of artefacts, they’re not just Benin Bronzes, they’re simple manifestations of a time and when put together with other kinds of sources tell us about what we were thinking and the immediacy of what we were expressing.

People’s Republic of Stokes Croft has been a wonderful ally throughout the project, and it was through them we were introduced to Jamie Gillman who was the artist behind the Bristol Bear, that sat in the Bear Pit and was the herald of the City, the soul of the city. As it was so large, we were only able to display the head and arms!

We had some provocative work by Tamatha-Ann Harris, whose an artist who looks at women’s bodies, sexuality. There was some really evocative work there but I think at the same time for many of us who are looking at these issues it's celebratory rather than offensive.

Through Final Frontier, we’re really keen to, and what I hope we did, honour and acknowledge other communities, and other forms of protest that haven’t had mass participatory scope but nonetheless have been a critical part of activism in the last 20-30 years. We also want to celebrate and engage and honour the activism of movements that are to some extent outside of our chronology, hence we had the banners by Vince Laws hung from a wonderful rope structure that allowed us to display various kinds of disability rights banners charting the history of the disability movement and some of the awful, shocking cases of exclusion that have happened over the years.

Click here to watch a (very) quick tour of the Final Frontier 'pop-up' exhibition

About Art of Resistance

Art of Resistance is a two-year, National Heritage Lottery Funded project charting 100 years of protest in Bristol.

As part of Art of Resistance Rider Shafique sat down with Edson Burton to discuss his multi-faceted career and his thoughts on the activist community in Bristol.

Rider is a lyricist, spoken word and recording artist and a prolific and versatile MC at both live events on record.

Rider creates visual and performance art to educate and inspire for his project I-DENTITY, including photography exhibitions, films, interviews, workshops and a radio interview series for Noods Radio called I-MC.

Want to find out more about Art of Resistance? Click here to find out more about the project and upcoming events or keep up to date with events and news at Trinity by signing up to our mailing list.

Art of Resistance is a two-year, National Heritage Lottery Funded project charting 100 years of protest in Bristol.

Soundtrack by Grove

Cleo Lake is an activist, artist and elected representative, her activism spans the BLM movement, environmentalism and gender equality.

A former Colston girls school student and a leading voice in the Countering Colston movement Cleo, on taking office as Lord Mayor of Bristol, removed a portrait of Edward Colston that hung in the Lord Mayor's parlour.

Dr Edson Burton caught up with Cleo as part of the oral history research for Art of Resistance and captured the inspirational story of how she remains rooted in grassroots activism whilst navigating local and global corridors of power.

Watch the highlights of the interview above or view the whole interview by clicking here.

Want to find out more about Art of Resistance? Click here to find out more about the project and upcoming events or keep up to date with events and news at Trinity by signing up to our mailing list.

Art of Resistance is a two-year, National Heritage Lottery Funded project charting 100 years of protest in Bristol.

Soundtrack Soft Cheeks by Grove

Credit: Mikaela Loach/Charlie Hyams

In March 2022 Trinity are hosting The Final Frontier, a two-day festival that will explore Bristol’s activism and the connection between art and activism that has affected change on a global scale.

Environmental activist Mikaela Loach, who famously took the UK oil industry to the High Courts in 2021, will share their story of using collective action to ensure that the government is held to account for their response to the climate crisis.

Other guests include Bristol ‘artists and activists’ Doug Francis (Invisible Circus) Chris Chalkley (PRCS) and Michelle Curtis whose iconic paintings of ‘The Seven Saints of St Paul’s challenged stereotypes of the African Caribbean community that make the central Bristol ward their home; comedian, programmer, and tutor Angie Belcher (Aftermirth) & Stockholm Fringe favourite, the ever bold poet, performer, producer Isadora Vibes.

Throughout both days there will be workshops running that attendees can sign up to on the day. These include Hip-Hop, poetry, up-cycling fashion and an opportunity to help make a 'banner for Bristol' as well as an exhibition of artwork that uses creativity as a form of activism, including famous Bristol protest artworks.

Click here to book your tickets

Art of Resistance is a two-year, National Heritage Lottery Funded project charting 100 years of protest in Bristol.

The camera has long played a vital role in producing alternative narratives and creating a counter point to mainstream depictions.  Image from 'Activism Through the Lens' credit Khali Ackford/ Trinity Community Arts

Bristol based photographer Khali Ackford came to prominence following his powerful photographs capturing the spirit of the Black Lives Matters movement in the city. The events of which led to the toppling of Colston and a ripple effect around the globe.

“I’d seen his work and know the level of work that he brings across – that was the main attraction, to aspire to get to that level.” Zack, participant of Activism Through the Lens

In autumn 2021, as part of the Heritage Lottery funded project Art of Resistance, Trinity commissioned Khali to create a hands-on workshop series that would explore the role of photography in challenging the dominant narrative and highlight its power to support marginalised voices.

Khali designed the programme to introduce participants to his own journey as a photographer and offered opportunities to connect with his peers, including bringing leading artists/activists to sessions. He supported the group with key technical skills such as tips for shooting with DSLR’s, how to capture the spirit of protests through a lens, as well as shooting in a studio environment.

The programme included a mini-personal project, whereby participants used the skills they had learnt to create studio images that amplified the issues that were most passionate to them including the role and dedication of front-line NHS staff during the pandemic.

Art of Resistance continues to offer a programme of events and activities throughout 2022, including The Final Frontier, a two-day festival in March. The Festival features Mikaela Loach, who famously took the UK oil industry to the High Courts in 2021, as well as Bristol ‘artists and activists’ Doug Francis (Invisible Circus) Chris Chalkley (PRCS) and Michelle Curtis whose iconic paintings of ‘The Seven Saints of St Paul’s challenged stereotypes of the African Caribbean community that make the central Bristol ward their home. Click here to buy tickets.

Lowkey, Photo Khali Ackford

Leading UK hip-hop artist, Lowkey is renowned for using spoken word and music as a form of activism and amplification. He was at Trinity to share the story of his journey as an activist/artist as part of Art of Resistance, a two-year Heritage Lottery project exploring creative acts of resistance.

Before the event, Lowkey kindly joined students from Trinity’s music making project, Making Tracks, to chat about how he entered into his musical making career, the challenges he has faced, and some top-tips for the emerging musicians.

“I found this advice really helpful and I've since tried to begin putting some of it into action. Lowkey also spent some time talking about how to stay motivated and keep up a consistent creative output, and how important consistency over time can be to develop a career in any creative industry.” Feedback from Jo Joyce-Venables, who is currently on a six-month placement at Trinity, as part of the Kickstarter scheme.

Lowkey shared some helpful advice on self-promoting, sharing his own story of how to use different methods of finding audiences online and keeping them engaged, using the technology and resources that are available today. Many students, including Jasper, found his tips on using Patreon and other online platforms useful, commenting "It was really good that Lowkey gave us a few insider tips such as using Patreon."

We are really grateful to Lowkey for taking the time to chat with students. Connecting emerging musicians directly to professionals is an important part of young people’s journey on Making Tracks. Lowkey joins the likes of Benjamin Zephaniah and Dev (Idles) who have all offered their support to the project and the young people’s journey.

Making Tracks

Making Tracks is supported by Youth Music and using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, as well as support from match funders Youth Sector Support Fund.

Sign up to Trinity’s free course to gain skills and knowledge necessary for documenting art and activism.

Programmed as part of Art of Resistance this course is an opportunity to explore Bristol’s radical history. If you are interested in Bristol's rich history of resistance and how to document and how to share this story, this course is for you.

Art of Resistance is an exploration of activist art produced by activists through the ages with a focus on the following themes: Women’s Equality, Environmental Activism, Anti-Fascism/anti-racism, Workers' Rights and 'Counterculture' - Bristol's free-party scene and occupy movement.

By taking part in this FREE course, we hope you will discover the rich resources as part of our shared history, which are freely and publicly available in Bristol's archives.

Our aim through this intro course to activism research is to build a team of volunteer researchers who can help us discover the stories, images and artefacts to grow an Art of Resistance archive.

Each listing below is for a 2hr physical site visit - further info to be provided on registration.

Wed, 17 Nov, 2pm – Course series launch at Trinity

Come meet the team and other people taking part in the series and find out more about art activism.

Tues, 23 Nov, 1:30pm – MShed site-visit

A curator-led journey of the objects and exhibitions that tell the story of activism in Bristol.

Sat, 27 Nov, 1:30pm - 3:30pm - Oral history training day at Trinity

Oral history has an important role in telling the story of Art Activism this session will be a practical hands-on guide to collecting oral history testimonials.

Mon, 29 Nov, 11am - Bristol Records Office visit

Find out where Bristol's radical history is stored and how to access it.

Mon, 6 Dec, 10 am - Central Library visit

Join the team at Bristol Central Library to uncover activism history stored in their vaults.

Click here to register for the series.

About Art of Resistance

Art of Resistance is a two-year National Lottery Heritage Funded exploring 100 years of social activism, protest and civil disobedience in Bristol and the art that underpinned each movement.

Photo credit: Colin Moody

Art of Resistance is a two-year project exploring the role that creativity plays in resistance movements. Through the lens of key protest movements in Bristol: Women’s Equality & The Suffragettes, Workers' Risings & Bristol Riots, and Anti-Racism & Anti-Fascism, the project is documenting and exploring Bristol as a city where people feel empowered to make change.

Throughout this Summer (July – Aug 2021) there are opportunities to find out more about creative acts of resistance through a programme of talks, workshops, and events. Featuring the likes of Lowkey, Kiki, Queer Vision and Julie Boston – all key players driving to change the world around them for the better.

Banners have, literally, been at the forefront of Trade Union protest and a way in which women in particular have contributed to Trade Union activism. Imagine from Reclaim the Night to Black Lives Matter.  Join textile artists Ruth Ramsay and others to collaborate in the creation of a ‘Banner For Bristol’ that will capture the spirit of Bristol (05 Aug).

Short films are often a stepping stone for film-makers, lending themselves to a variety of innovative approaches to storytelling and platforming. For one night only, Kiki Bristol join forces with Queer Vision for an evening screening new QTIPOC film shorts (15 Jul).

Environmental campaigning has been at the forefront of the protest movements in Bristol. From Grassroots campaigning to Save The M32 Maples in St Paul’s to XR’s takeover of the City Centre. Julie Boston has been at the forefront of campaigning on environmental issues in Bristol for decades – join her at Trinity for an evening's discussion (22 Jul).

British rapper and activist, Lowkey is one of the most evocative, articulate, and urgent voices of our time. Since launching his rap career in the early 00s, Lowkey has been a consistent and powerful voice against Islamophobia, neo-imperialism, and the plight of Palestine. In an evening of conversation, Lowkey shares his inspirations, how he uses his art as a form of activism and his continued commitment to social justice (28 Sep).

Fast fashion has a detrimental impact on the environment. In a one-off workshop join Sophie & Frances to find out more about every-day-resistance through the simple act of up-cycling your clothes (12 Aug).

From their use in the military to the synonymous connection to the punk movement in the 70s/80s, patches can be a form of group identification, a creative symbol of counterculture, or a means of showing support for a cause. Find out more about the history of patches through creating your own in a one-off workshop (18 Aug).

Sign up by clicking on the links above, or find out more about the project here. Don’t want to miss out? Keep up to date with events and news at Trinity by signing up to our mailing list.

Peaches, Trinity, 2016 Credit: Jessica Bartolini

Resonators, Trinity, 2018, Khali Ackford

Alesandra Seutin I Vocab Dance Company, Trinity, 2018, Jessica Bartolini

Kiesha Thompson, Trinity, 2018, Jessica Bartolini

This gallery is part of Art of Resistance, a two year project documenting creative responses to resistance movements in Bristol. The women featured in this exhibition are known for their creative power and for their commitment to changing society.

Using music as their platform, Peaches takes a bold and unexpected approach to the topics of sex, feminism, queerness, gender, and new millennium politics. Fronted by Faye Houston and Kassia Zermon, Brighton reggae band, Resonators, draw influences from original Jamaican sounds and riddims.

Keisha Thompson and Alesandra Seutin both use performance to explore race, identity, and gender issues, often creating highly personal and thought provoking work.

Protest history and the art it has created is both formal and informally documented. It is held within memories, private collections, people’s art, posters, music, and poetry. We hope these pictures inspire you to remember your own creative acts of protest, large or small, to share them with us and be part of building a people’s archive.

Art of Resistance is funded by Heritage Lottery Fund

Image courtesy of Daniel Durrans donated to Trinity's archive as part of Art of Resistance

"There are people across generations in Bristol who have taken action which makes protest normative, for generations here today it is not a question of whether you take action, but how you take action." Dr Edson Burton

Writer, historian and Art of Resistance Curator Dr Edson Burton speaks to BBC reporter Aleisha Scott about the history of protest in Bristol. Click here to read the full article, which offers some context to this week's Kill the Bill protest, Mar 2021.

As part of our project, which seeks to document 100 years of civil activism in the city, we are asking for people to share with us their stories and artifacts from protests and movements past and present.

From textile banners, to posters, poems and other inspired artwork, we want you to help us capture the bigger, complex picture of protest throughout recent decades and speak of our wider journey as a democratic, multicultural country.

We're looking for content that speaks to the people, of the people. For inspiration, check out this Bristol Poem written by school children in 2012 as part of our previous Bridges project.

Get in touch with us by emailing info@trinitybristol.org.uk if you have any stories or content you would like to share or submit any digital material to form part of an upcoming exhibition using our Art Of Resistance Submission form.

With the latest 'Meet the Researchers' event coming up next week, we touch base with the Curator Edson Burton who heads up the #Resist Team to find out what's been going on behind the scenes with Trinity's latest heritage project.

Tell us about Art of Resistance

The Art of Resistance is a two-year programme of research, activities and events charting looking at creative responses to resistance movements in Bristol. We will focus on five key movements over the last 100 years:

• Women’s Equality Suffragette to the #MeToo Movement
• Anti-Racism/Anti-Fascism – Black Shirts to Black Lives Matters
• Workers' Rights - Hunger Marches to unionising the gig economy
• Counter Culture – Rastafari, Squatters, Travellers & the free party scene
• Reclaiming the Environment – CND, Extinction Rebellion, graffiti to street art

Each strand will be explored through research and activities including talks, workshops and reminiscence sessions.

Tells us a little about what's been going on with the project?

As with many across the cultural and heritage sectors, we've had to navigate the impact of COVID-19. Online platforms have become our best friend; we've hosted two project ‘Intro' sessions, giving members of the public a chance to find out more and how they can contribute either by sharing their 'resistance art', or by volunteering with one of our research teams to help uncover Bristol's stories of resistance and that art that helped drive forward some of the City's key movements over the last few decades.

What have you uncovered so far?

We've started off by talking to and interviewing some of the leading lights in active Bristol movements and are looking forward to sharing over the coming weeks interviews including activist & Councillor Cleo Lake, photographer & Black Lives Matter activist Khali Ackford, the inimitable wordsmith/producer Rider Shafique, the legendary Rita Lynch and the force behind the internationally loved Watershed cinema, curator Mark Cosgrove.

We've also been sent some truly impactful images of protests by locally based photographers Tara Klein, Colin Moody, Daniel Durrans - plus Bristol stalwart Eugene Byrne has given us use of their archival pictures. We'll be bringing you these‘snapshots of resistance' across upcoming online and physical exhibitions.

What are you looking forward to?

In readiness for our next stage of research, we've been setting up the delivery team to all the help run the project and are happy to welcome new project assistant Esther to the team. So, we're really looking forward to a return to our first installment of socially-distanced events and activities.

How do people get involved?

If you're interested in getting involved or would like to know more, come along to our next online event: Meet the Researchers, Monday 22 Feb 2021. Each researcher will share their interests and experiences giving you the chance to decide which strand you wish to follow.

We'll be bringing you more activities and events over the coming months so keep an eye on our website and social media channels or sign up to our e-newsletter.

If you've got a story or artwork you'd like to share as part of the project, please get in touch or upload content using our Art Of Resistance Submission form.

Keep up-to-date with the project, including how you can take part, by signing up to our mailing list here.

Trans Pride, Bristol. Photo by Tara Klein

Photo by Daniel Durrans

Photo by Colin Moody

Vonalina Cake Photography

UK Black Pride

February is LGBTQ+ History Month - an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the LGBTQ+ community in Bristol and further afield.

Since the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967, the LGBTQ community in Bristol has grown in visibility.

The discreet clubs such as the Radnor Bristol have been superseded by the bright declamatory colours of clubs and bars in Old Market and Park Street.

Perhaps the most significant event it the Bristol's calendar after Harbour Festival is Bristol Pride, one of Bristol’s the city's largest free/donation only festivals attracting 40,000 people to their event on the Downs in 2019.

Behind this visibility is a long history of struggle by the gay community.

Coming out continues to carry the risk of social ostracism if not violence. Introduced under a Thatcher Government in 1988, Clause 28 prohibited the teaching of gay materials in schools. Though we have come a long way since this point, current RSE guidelines still allow parents to withdraw their children from lessons where gay friendly teaching materials are introduced into the learning environment. Religious and political extremists of various persuasions continue to target anti-LGBTQ communities.

Section 28 was taken off the statute books in 2003 but the battle for gay rights and for acceptance continues. Visibility remains revolutionary.

What it means to be gay has also evolved since decriminalisation and this evolution has been about the internal journey of the community itself. In use since the late 80s-90s, the term LGBT began to replace the term 'gay' in reference to the broader community. Since this time, lesbian, gay and bisexual Bristolians have been working to find their common cause among diversity of needs and interests, with the inclusion of a spectrum of trans identities becoming more visible as part of recent movements.

Questioning gender identities has led to the growth of non-binary identification awareness. Formed in 2017, Kiki Bristol has expressed the voice of Bristol’s Queer People of Colour QTIPOC. Kiki is now an essential part of the Bristol landscape.

The LGBTQ community have opened a space in which sexuality and sexual identity can now be contested, where suppression and conformity is no longer inevitable and exploration in its myriad forms is the new normal.

Situated in the heart of Old Market, Trinity has been a proud supporter of it’s LGBTQ artists, and the wider community. It shall forever be thus.

As part of our Art of Resistance project, we present the series of photographs above, highlighting moments of protest, celebration and creativity.

Happy LGBTQ History Month.

By Edson Burton, Heritage Curator, Feb 2021

If you have a story of protest, image or artifact you would like to share, please check out our call for content.

Click here for more info about the Art of Resistance Project.

#Resist

Image Colin Moody

Art of Resistance is a 2-year project exploring 100 years of social activism, protest, and civil disobedience in Bristol, and the art that underpinned each movement.

We're looking for people who have artifacts or stories they would like to share to help build this picture of Bristol as a city of art and activism.

Whether your #resist story or art relates to Workers Rights, Women’s Equality, Anti-Racism, Anti-Fascism - or something else we haven't thought of - we'd love to hear from you.

In particular, we're really interested if any artwork, including poetry, textiles, posters, banners and ephemera, music and performing arts that were used to support and capture the spirit of different movements throughout the ages.

#GetInvolved

If you have digital material you can upload it here: Art Of Resistance Submission form.

If you have a physical item or would like to discus taking part in an interview to tell your own story, please contact info@trinitybristol.org.uk

Keep up to do with the project and other Trinity news and event sign up to our mailing list here.

The project is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

©Sham Ahmed

Meet Dr Edson Burton, Working Class Equality Researcher for the Art of Resistance project.

Dr Edson Burton is a historian, writer and curator living in Bristol since 1994.  Old Market, & Edson joined the Trinity staff team in 2010 to lead What’s Your Trinity Story Project, since then he has led the ground breaking Old Market Study Vice & Virtue, Bridges & Heart & Soul projects. He is co-author of What’s Your Trinity Story & Vice & Virtue. He is a regular voice on local and national radio and television.

His areas of interest include the history of Old Market and the transatlantic slave trade. He is co-author of What’s Your Trinity Story, Vice and Virtue and the poetry collection Seasoned.

Edson is also heading up the project as Heritage Curator. Please get in touch with him if you're interested in getting involved with the project.

Click here to read about the other #Resist Researchers.

The toppling of the Colston statue has put Bristol under the global spotlight.

“2020 could not be timelier for the launch of Art of Resistance: we’re really pleased to be able to launch this two year project, made possible by National Lottery players, at a time of great public movement in the city. We will work with people across the city to document the unofficial histories that are often lost over time and capture Bristol’s creative and activist spirit by exploring the art that underpinned movement that have shaped our diverse city and country.”

Edson Burton, Heritage & Engagement Curator

This, along with the wider Black Lives Matter movement, has led to an outpouring of creative responses - from poetry, to illustration to performance. But this is by no means a new occurrence in Bristol, which has been a city noted of radical art and activism for decades.

Capturing that spirit, The Trinity Centre, Old Market, are launching the Art of Resistance project - awarded funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund in March 2020, prior to lockdown toward a two year programme - will explore the history of protest and activism in Bristol and the art that underpinned each movement.

Over a two year project, the project team, led by local historian, writer and director Dr Edson Burton, will celebrate the creative responses of key movements over the last 100 years - including Women’s Equality, Workers Rights and Anti-Fascism.

A grant of £150,000 will support a broad programme of research, talks, events, artist commissions, exhibitions and the creation of an online archive to chart these untold stories.

Trinity will be working with a number of research partners to realise the project.

“From Bishop Wulfstan to Jen Reid, Bristol has had a long and distinctive tradition of calling out injustice. The arts and music have helped to rally differing groups to ally together against self-serving privilege and callous greed. Given its own history, Trinity is especially well placed to showcase the many ways in which the city and the nation can come to know itself in a more honest and dynamic way.” Dr. Madge Dresser, Honorary Professor of History with Department of Historical Studies at Bristol University.