why art making is an act of resistance
Our current global political climate is marked by “radical uncertainty,” where rule of law, press freedom and electoral integrity have eroded in many countries, even as a few places show democratic recovery. The Russia-Ukraine war, the Gaza genocide, climate stress, economic wobble, AI boom, mass migration and displacement have many of us bracing for the next crisis. Urgency is everywhere. In the art therapy studio we choose a different pace. We make a small sanctuary where bodies can settle, images can speak, and community care can grow.
During this urgent times, art making is a quiet act of refusal and a bold act of care. Here is why it matters, and how to do it well.
Why art making is resistance
It protects your inner knowing. When the news cycle colonises attention, making returns you to the absence of noise. Attention is a resource. Guarding it is political.
It slows what tries to rush you. Urgent systems demand immediate attention and quick fixes. Slow marks, colourful splashes, muddled paint, sticky glue: all are glorious and radical refusals. Slowness lets insights and truths catch up.
It widens who gets to speak. Images carry the voices that did not get the microphone and the headlines; body, memory, culture, Country, ancestors, more than human kin. Letting them speak challenges dominant and narrow narratives.
It rehumanises. Where policy turns people into numbers, making returns humanity with each stroke, texture, colour, story. Seeing and being seen is a counter to erasure. Making and reconstructing is a counter to passive consumption.
It redistributes power. You choose the materials, the pace, the colour, when to start and finish, when to pause. Choice rehearsed in the studio becomes courage at the meeting table or the ballot box. You are a creator, bringing forth new ideas, new possibilities.
It keeps joy alive. Joy is not a luxury, it is fuel for aliveness. Pleasure in colour and rhythm strengthens the nervous system so you can sustain care and take action.
It builds solidarity. Collective making, crafternoons where neurodivergent folks gather together, zines, banners for marches and protests, stitched squares, turns isolation into shared ground. Community care becomes the antidote for alienation and loneliness.
How it works in the body
Rhythm and repetition settle the nervous system, which opens room for reflection and connection.
Hands that move with purpose transform stuck energy and helplessness into agency and power.
Sensory input anchors. The weight of clay, scratch of charcoal, bring you out of the dopamine addiction from doom scrolling and back into the present. The buttery, textured and thick acrylic paint reminds you that it is okay to messy, fluid, imperfect and to take up space.
Language for yourself and your community
“I am moving at a humane pace.”
“My attention is worth protecting.”
“Making is political.”
“We make to remember we are many.”
Ethics and care
Safety first. Protect identities if needed, initials only, blur faces, Choose venues with consent. Follow cultural protocols.
Approach Country with respect. Gather natural materials lightly, return what you can.
Rest on purpose. Action without rest burns the field you are trying to grow.
A tiny weekly ritual
Take twenty minutes. Three long exhales. Make art as a political refusal. Bring attention to what is, whether anger, grief, restlessness, fatigue, perhaps even joy. When you finish, write one line beginning with, “In this climate, I resist…”.
In short, art making resists by renewing your capacity to feel, to think, and to stand with others. It turns attention into a shelter, choice into practice, and practice into presence. From that presence, your voice carries further, and your care lasts longer.
*Disclaimer: A creative and therapeutic prompt is by no means a substitute for an art therapist. Please seek help from a professional and credentialed art therapist to explore feelings, develop healthy coping mechanisms, and work toward improving overall well-being.