A record of suffering: curator Janette Martin examines a report published shortly after the Peterloo Massacre which memorialises the injuries and identities of the victims.
Radical Objects
Radical Object: A pot plant from Patty Ortiz’s “WWKY: I Am Here”
In an exploration of Patty Ortiz’s art with DACA migrants to the US, Irina Popescu argues that performance art can encourage empathy and political responsibility.
Radical Object: Billets de Confiance
What can history tell us about the politics of monetary innovations like cryptocurrencies? Rebecca Spang looks back to the era of the French Revolution to explore “billets de confidence” – local, decentralised bills of exchange.
Radical Object: Military Sweetheart Brooches of the First World War
Penny Streeter examines the emotional history of sweetheart brooches; tokens of love and loss kept by the families of soldiers in the First World War.
Radical Objects: Collectable AIDS Trading Cards
How did an American comic book publisher become a crusader in the fight against HIV/AIDS? Frances Reed unearths the forgotten story of Eclipse Enterprises and its collectable AIDS trading cards, currently on display at the Royal College of Nursing.
Remembering 1968 – The Poster Workshop, 1968-71
The Poster Workshop was the first of the radical screen-printing workshops in London, and its posters offer a mirror to the political preoccupations of the times.
Radical Object: A Handmade Rifle Confiscated by British Soldiers during the Mau Mau Uprising
A handmade wooden gun confiscated by the British during the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya made its way into Birmingham’s museum collection.
