Arbejdermuseet
What causes have you up in arms? When should we stand together? How far will you go?
Open until June 2022
At ACTIVIST, the latest major exhibition at the Workers’ Museum, you can experience the past 60 years of protest movements, demonstrations and activism in Denmark. You can meet over 30 activists who’ve dedicated a large part of their life to fighting for a cause they believe in.
By taking action, they’ve tried to address problems politicians either can’t or won’t deal with. Can you recognise your own life in their stories?
”I was really angry and thought, we can’t do this, apartheid and me can’t exist in the same world.”
– Gorm Gunnarsen/ National Committee South Africa Actionydafrika Aktion
The exhibition is based on new research documenting changes in the ways Danes have engaged with politics in recent decades. In the past people demonstrated their political allegiances by joining a political party. Today people join Facebook groups, go on demonstrations and are active in movements large and small. As a population Danes have not become less politically active, but new ways of getting involved have become more dominant.
Some see activism as a threat to democracy. Others see it as the only way for their voices to be heard. But how far should we go for a cause we feel passionate about?
57% of Danes have performed some kind of activism within the past year
-according to a nationwide Epinion survey made by the Workers’ Museum in collaboration with Aarhus University
As well as the exhibition and the latest research, the Workers’ Museum is launching a programme of ACTIVIST courses and a hands-on workshop where children and young people can train their democratic skills and reflect on the options they have to act on their beliefs.