Graphic Design Histories for Creative Dissent
Archiving and Ethical Challenges
New international research project to explore history of graphic design for street protest
What we are doing
Graphic Design Histories for Creative Dissent: Archiving and Ethical Challenges will focus on the timely subject of graphic objects of street protest for global movements, defining and critically engaging with histories of creative dissent since the 1950s in Brazil, South Africa and the United Kingdom to reveal graphic design’s capacity to both address and exacerbate social crises and inequalities. The project will examine case studies of protest movements ranging from Women’s Liberation to anti-apartheid and LGBTQIA+ activism.
Funded by national funding bodies UKRI, FAPESP and NRF through the Trans-Atlantic Platform, the project will look at protests across the political spectrum and examine the distinctions between the modes of visual communication for communities of resistance in Brazil, South Africa and the UK. At the same time, it will explore how cultural memory around the development of struggles for democracy might perpetuate archival work in the future.
Combining graphic design history and practice, the project will collaborate with experts in art history, philosophy, political science, media, critical archival studies and cultural and religious studies. It will bring these perspectives together through case studies spanning 70 years, alongside design-led workshops, talks and other events, to investigate the influence of creative material forms of dissent and to share best practice in developing rigorous and ethical archiving practices.
This project will advance knowledge of protest movements, by demonstrating the role of designed material in consciousness-raising, identity formation and in the articulation of opinions and demands, supporting future democracies, built on fair governance and trust, and creative outputs from the research will include a documentary film, publications and a research website.
Who we are
GDHCD CORE MEMBERS
Prof Teal Triggs
Royal College of Art
Dr Harriet Atkinson
University of Brighton
Prof Priscila Farias
University of São Paulo
Prof Deirdre Pretorius
University of Johannesburg
Dr Thandi Gamedze
University of the Western Cape
Prof Lee-Shae Scharnick-Udemans
University of the Western Cape
POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP
Prof Guilherme Altmayer
University of São Paulo
PROJECT RESEARCH CURATORS
Dr Mijke van der Drift
Royal College of Art
Dr Sue Breakell
Archive Director University of Brighton Design Archives
PROJECT PARTNER
Dr Rosemary Grennan
co-Director May Day Rooms
GDHCD International Advisory Board MEMBERS
Prof Jeremy Aynsley
Chair Prof Emeritus of Design History, University of Brighton (UK)
Dr Pragya Dhital
Institute of Advanced Studies (UK)
Dr Maja Maricevic
Director of Science and Innovation, British Library (UK)
Prof Jo Littler
Professor of Cultural, Media and Social Analysis, Goldsmiths, University of London (UK)
Prof Solange Ferraz de Lima
Museu Paulista, University of São Paulo (Brazil)
Razia Saleh
Head: Archive and Research at Nelson Mandela Foundation (SA)
Where to contact us.
graphic.dissent@rca.ac.uk
Professor Jeremy Aynsley, Chair of the International Advisory Board for the project
“A collaboration between researchers across the extended geography of Brazil, South Africa and the UK, this timely project promises to offer many new insights into the potency of visual communication for addressing urgent social and political issues. With evidence drawn from specialist archives and collections across each centre, as well as the gathering of voices from a range of design activists that reveal both distinctive and shared visual strategies, the result will be a deepening understanding of the struggles for democracy today.”
Professor Teal Triggs
“This is a unique opportunity to work with world-leading researchers and partners in critically addressing the role of protest in democracy. The emphasis on the visual histories across three countries (Brazil, South Africa and the UK) offers fresh avenues of investigation, and allows street-level graphic design to speak for how democracy belongs to everybody. It is my privilege to be part of this academic collaboration at this moment in history – a moment when democracy is increasingly under question.”
Dr Harriet Atkinson
“I am so excited by the opportunity within this project to think more about the histories of the relationships and solidarities between Brazil, South Africa and the UK, as well as to shape the way that material associated with key recent democratic movements, both local and global, is gathered and kept.”
About the participating universities
Founded in 1837, the Royal College of Art is the world’s leading university of art and design. Specialising in teaching and research, the RCA offers degrees of MA, MPhil, MFA, MDes, MArch, MEd, MRes, Graduate Diploma and PhD across the disciplines of architecture, arts & humanities, design and communication. A small, specialist and research-intensive postgraduate university based in the heart of London, the RCA provides around 2,500 students with unrivalled opportunities to deliver art and design projects that transform the world. The RCA’s approach is founded on the premise that art, design, creative thinking, science, engineering and technology must all collaborate to solve today’s global challenges. The RCA was named the world’s leading university of art and design in the QS World Rankings 2025 for the eleventh consecutive year (QS World Subject Rankings 2015-2025). rca.ac.uk
The University of Johannesburg (UJ) was formed on January 1, 2005, through the merger of Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) and Technikon Witwatersrand (TWR). UJ is a leading institution committed to excellence, innovation, and transformation. It has grown into a diverse and inclusive institution with a large student population of nearly 51,000, including international students from various countries. In 2025, for the third time running, UJ was ranked the top producer of research outputs in South Africa according to a report by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). www.uj.ac.za
In 1959, Parliament under apartheid established the University College of the Western Cape as a constituent college of the University of South Africa for people classified as “Coloured”. In 1970, the institution gained university status and was able to award its own degrees and diplomas. Today, UWC is a research-led university responsive to the needs of a changing world through excellence in teaching, learning and research and the generation and application of new knowledge. www.uwc.ac.za
Funding
About Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)
Established in 1962, FAPESP is a public institution dedicated to providing financial support for academic research and innovation, located in São Paulo, Brazil. fapesp.br/en
About The National Research Foundation (NRF)
The NRF is a South African independent statutory body. As a government mandated research and science development agency the NRF funds research, the development of high-end Human Capacity and critical research infrastructure to promote knowledge production across all disciplinary fields. nrf.ac.za/about-us/
About UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
Launched in April 2018, UKRI is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).
The organisation brings together the seven disciplinary research councils, Research England, which is responsible for supporting research and knowledge exchange at higher education institutions in England, and the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK. ukri.org/