Protest

When Abraham Lincoln campaigned in Hartford, Connecticut, in March 1860, he was met by a new uniformed group—the Wide Awakes.

The Club of Cape-Wearing Activists Who Helped Elect Lincoln—and Spark the Civil War

The untold story of the Wide Awakes, the young Americans who took up the torch for their antislavery cause and stirred the nation

A video posted on social media shows a woman spraying red paint on the portrait, then cutting it with a handheld tool.

Pro-Palestinian Activists Damage Balfour Portrait at Cambridge University

The 1917 Balfour Declaration was a pivotal declaration of British support for a "national home for the Jewish people"

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Before Beyonce and Taylor Swift Ran the World, There Was Joan Baez

Today’s artists—especially women—are sometimes criticized for speaking out, but for Baez, art and activism were indivisible

Protesters with the activist group Last Generation stand in front of Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus at Florence's Uffizi Gallery on February 13. 

Climate Activists Stage Protest in Front of Botticelli's 'Birth of Venus'

Two men taped images of flooding in Tuscany to the Renaissance painting's protective glass

Protesters throw soup at the Mona Lisa's protective glass covering at the Louvre on January 28.

Climate Activists Throw Soup at the 'Mona Lisa'

Protected by bulletproof glass, Leonardo da Vinci’s famous masterpiece was not harmed

Issues from Curt Bloch's Het Onderwater Cabaret will be shown at the Jewish Museum Berlin beginning in February.

While Hiding From the Nazis in an Attic, a Jewish Man Created 95 Issues of a Satirical Magazine

An exhibition of Curt Bloch's little-known wartime publications is going on display in Berlin

The Bostonians’ “preferred outcome” was for the tea to be “peacefully sent back to London,” says historian Benjamin L. Carp. “It’s only when they find out … the governor is not going to let [that happen] that they say, ‘Well, we have no choice [but] to destroy [the tea].”

The Many Myths of the Boston Tea Party

Contrary to popular belief, the 1773 protest opposed a tax break, not a tax hike. And it didn't immediately unify the colonies against the British

Will Liverman performs during the dress rehearsal of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X at the Metropolitan Opera, which runs through December 2

Malcolm X Opera Opens in New York

The Afrofuturist production examines the civil rights leader's legacy and lasting influence

Two Just Stop Oil protesters after smashing the glass protecting Rokeby Venus at London’s National Gallery 

Climate Activists Hammer at Glass Protecting Velázquez's 'Rokeby Venus'

Organized by Just Stop Oil, the incident was just the latest of many protests targeting famous artworks

Foundry workers disassembled Charlottesville's Robert E. Lee statue before melting it down.

Foundry Workers Melt Down Charlottesville's Divisive Robert E. Lee Statue

Eventually, an artist will be chosen to transform the bronze bars into a public art installation

A print of a work by South African photographer Zanele Muholi hangs above the museum's staircase.

Museum of Censored Art Opens in Barcelona

The new Museu de l'Art Prohibit serves as a monument to freedom of expression

John Akomfrah at his London studio, 2016

Artist John Akomfrah Is Having a Moment

The works of the recently knighted filmmaker address contemporary issues in two different Smithsonian museums

Narges Mohammadi, pictured here in April 2021, won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for advocating for women's rights in Iran.

Nobel Peace Prize Goes to Iranian Rights Activist Narges Mohammadi

Mohammadi, who is currently in prison, is at the forefront of the fight against oppression in Iran

The four colorful panels depict Black Americans holding protest signs.

See Washington National Cathedral's New Racial Justice-Themed Stained-Glass Windows

Designed by artist Kerry James Marshall, the panels replace windows depicting Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson

A replica of Pillar of Shame on display in Taipei, Taiwan, on June 4, 2023. Copies of the sculpture exist around the world.

Hong Kong Student Jailed Over Tiananmen Square Protest Banner

Zeng Yuxuan, 23, was sentenced to six months in prison on charges of sedition

The eagle eyes of Welcome as Warning stare down at visitors to "The World's UnFair" in Queens, New York.

'The World’s UnFair,' a New Exhibition Calling for the Return of Indigenous Land, Comes to Queens

Located on an empty lot, the immersive art show has a simple message: "Give it back"

A visitor examines Pablo Picasso's Guernica during the partial reopening of the Reina Sofía Museum in June 2020, which followed several months of pandemic closures.

Museum Drops Ban on Photographing Picasso's 'Guernica'

After enforcing the rule for three decades, officials say that lifting it will prevent overcrowding and attract younger audiences

Archibald J. Motley Jr.'s Black Belt (1934)

The Harlem Renaissance Is Coming to the Met

A new exhibition will be the first survey of the cultural movement in New York City since 1987

A still from the upcoming movie Rustin, which tells the story of Bayard Rustin, a key orchestrator behind the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Watch the Trailer for 'Rustin,' Which Spotlights the Man Behind the 1963 March on Washington

The new film dramatizes Bayard Rustin's efforts to pull off an event of unprecedented scale

In 1963, standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. waves to the largest crowd ever to participate in a civil rights demonstration in Washington, D.C. where he delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech.

To Mark the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington, Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' Speech Goes on Display

The draft on view at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture was produced a few hours before King took to the podium

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