The Art of Protest
2 September 2025 - 9 December 2025
10:30 - 12:00
Speakers' Corner
Open Lecture Series
What does protest look like today? It can be loud or quiet, creative or confrontational, personal or collective. From street demonstrations to poetry, music, fashion, and art, protest takes many forms.
The Art of Protest is a lecture series at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. Each week, a new lecture explores how people around the world use protest to challenge injustice, express identity, and push for change. You’ll learn about the history and future of protest through real stories, cultural examples, and creative perspectives.
Guest speakers from across Europe will share their work and ideas. Artists, performers, and activists will offer insight into how protest continues to shape our societies in powerful and unexpected ways.
These lectures are for anyone interested in activism, creativity, social issues, or just curious to see protest from a different angle.
Register
All lectures are free and open to THUAS students and staff. You can attend one, a few, or all of them. Registration opens soon. Keep an eye on this page and/or our socials!
Lectures and planning
An overview
The lectures take place every Tuesday from September 2 to December 9, 2025, from 10:30 to 12:00. There are 13 sessions in total, each exploring different themes around protest, activism, and creative resistance.
Protest and Democracy
Explores the role of civic protest in upholding democracy, showcasing global examples of non-violent, creative protest.
Speakers: Helen Limon & Antje Grebner
Date: September 2, 2025
Time: 10:30 - 12:00
Location: Speakers' Corner
Poetry of Protest
Explores the power of poetry in global protest movements, beginning with Shelley's "The Masques of Anarchy" and its enduring influence ("Ye are many – they are few").
Speakers: Helen Limon & Antje Grebner
Date: September 9, 2025
Time: 10:30 - 12:00
Location: Speakers' Corner
Music
"The History of Europe in 20 Songs," examining the role of music in protest using examples from Ian Peddie's Music and Protest.
Speaker: Roberto Barroso Vloedgraven
Date: September 16, 2025
Time: 10:30 - 12:00
Location: Speakers' Corner
The Art of Noise
Explores the use of sound in protest, from historical examples (medieval French women, Mary Malone's bell) to contemporary uses (activists in Tbilisi).
Speaker: TBA
Date: September 23, 2025
Time: 10:30 - 12:00
Location: Speakers' Corner
The Power of Silence
Explores the strategic use of silence in protest, incorporating artistic and activist perspectives.
Speaker: Gerlov van Engelen
Date: September 30, 2025
Time: 10:30 - 12:00
Location: TBA
The Right to Protest
Introduces the legal aspects of civic protest, drawing on Daniel Hignell-Tully's "Performative Agoras" (from Art Law Power) and Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals.
Speaker: TBA
Date: October 7, 2025
Time: 10:30 - 12:00
Location: Speakers' Corner
Presence & Absence
Occupations, sit-ins, strikes, marches, boycotts, The Picnic (Hungary), large-scale art installations (e.g., the migrant statue).
Speaker: Antje Grebner
Date: October 14, 2025
Time: 10:30 - 12:00
Location: TBA
Dressing Up & Dressing Down
Historical overview: From medieval jesters to Yellow Vests, with particular reference to the work of US artist Michael Sylvan Robinson and Gays Against Guns.
Speaker: Helen Limon
Date: October 21, 2025
Time: 10:30 - 12:00
Location: Speakers' Corner
The Writing on the Wall
Uses Liz McQuiston's PROTEST: A History of Social and Political Protest Graphics (1500-present).
Speakers: Helen Limon & Antje Grebner
Date: November 11, 2025
Time: 10:30 - 12:00
Location: Speakers' Corner
Laughter
Explores the historical use of humor (jesters, cartoons, satire, memes, stand-up comedy) in protest.
Speaker: Yasco Horsman
Date: November 18, 2025
Time: 10:30 - 12:00
Location: Speakers' Corner
The Price of Protest
Examines the personal costs of activism and the commercialization of protest, using a short film from Sarajevo and the evolution of Pride. Activist burn out and compassion fatigue will also be addressed.
Speaker: Tiaan Westenberg
Date: November 25, 2025
Time: 10:30 - 12:00
Location: Speakers' Corner
Frienemies
Explores the relationship between corporations, employees, shareholders, and activism, using examples of corporate sabotage (clogs to code).
Speaker: Jacco van Uden
Date: December 2, 2025
Time: 10:30 - 12:00
Location: TBA
Staging and Event Management
TBA
Speaker: TBA
Date: December 9, 2025
Time: 10:30 - 12:00
Location: Speakers' Corner
This event is from The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse is a program full of interesting activities on current, social and global issues.
