What do you want to protest? What actions (or inactions) cause you distress? What is happening in our world that you do not agree with? What are your hopes for the future?

Joy can be an act of resistance. Radical joy radiates and inspires. It is not dependent on outside forces but is within us and within our control, and when expressed, can help make change for all and inspire others to do the same. Joy is an invitation to resist the status quo.

We can respond to issues and concerns with anger or sadness. While anger can temporarily mobilise us, it is exhausting and disempowering in the long term. Instead, let’s aim for “tactical frivolity”, the art of using humour and absurdity to challenge the status quo.

This exhibition and community engagement program explores how we can face adversity or challenges with hope and humour. It is also a way of ‘giving the finger’ to practices and events that do not sit easily within our own moral compass.

At the heart of the exhibition is a series of hand-felted protest finger puppets, each one a small and spirited act of dissent. Designed to reflect both historical acts of resistance and the concerns of our community today, each puppet carries its own badge or placard bearing a pithy slogan, a hopeful call to joyful action.