Organized by Estudio Pedro Reyes
in collaboration with
A collective poster project where every participating artist nominates two more artists, as an allegory of a creative chain reaction. The project is a collection of urgent messages calling for universal nuclear disarmament.
In 2023, the nine global nuclear powers, The United States, China, Russia, France, UK, Israel, North Korea, India and Pakistan are expanding their nuclear arsenals. We are entering a silent new arms race in which trillions of dollars are being spent. At this exact moment, there are open threats of thermonuclear war, as well as nuclear tests being carried out. The world is dangerously close to a nuclear disaster.
In opposition to this trend, the ICAN established a landmark global agreement to ban nuclear weapons, known officially as the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons in 2017. It entered into force in January 2021 and has been signed by an overwhelming majority of the world’s nations.
Nuclear weapons have always been immoral; they are now illegal in the 92 signatory countries.
We know the countries that have yet to sign the nuclear ban treaty — the ones with the power to kill us all — will be the last to join. In nations hijacked by their military-industrial complexes, we can’t expect change to come from the top. Unless we exert public pressure worldwide, we are likely to experience nuclear war in our lifetime.
The good news is: we have done this in the past. Art and activism pressured governments in the 60s, 70s and 80s to dramatically reduce nuclear arsenals. An example of this was the 1 million protestors that gathered in Central Park in 1982, at the peak of the anti-nuclear movement. In 2020 there were approximately 13,400 nuclear weapons worldwide, compared with 63,632 in 1985, the highpoint for the global nuclear weapon stockpile.
Artists Against The Bomb was first publicly introduced in Vienna at the MST1, the first Meeting of States Parties to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the closing project will be presented in November of 2023 at the Second Meeting of State Parties MST2 at the United Nations in New York City.
Organized by Estudio Pedro Reyes
in collaboration with ICAN
ARTISTS AGAINST THE BOMB is a collection of urgent messages calling for universal nuclear disarmament. This series of posters designed by international artists can be printed locally and exhibited anywhere in the world. Participating artists grant permission for these images to be used to spread awareness about the imminent threat of nuclear war and the urgent need to abolish all nuclear weapons. If the download button is available, you can do so and print these artworks anywhere you choose to add to the global call for nuclear disarmament.
In 2023, the nine global nuclear powers – the United States, China, Russia, France, UK, Israel, North Korea, India and Pakistan – are expanding their nuclear arsenals. We are entering a silent new arms race on which trillions of dollars are being spent. At this exact moment, there are open threats of thermonuclear war, as well as nuclear tests being carried out. The world is dangerously close to a nuclear disaster.
In 2017 ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons), winners of the 2017 Peace Nobel Prize, established a landmark global agreement to ban nuclear weapons, known officially as the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons. It entered into force in January 2021 and has been signed by an overwhelming majority of the world’s nations.
Nuclear weapons have always been immoral; they are now illegal.
We know the countries that have yet to sign the nuclear ban treaty — the ones with the power to kill us all — will not be the first to join. In nations hijacked by their military-industrial complexes, we can’t expect change to come from the top. Unless we exert public pressure worldwide, we are likely to experience nuclear war in our lifetime.
The good news is we have done this in the past. Art and activism have pressured governments to dramatically reduce nuclear arsenals. An example of this was the 1 million protestors that gathered in Central Park in 1982, at the peak of the anti-nuclear movement. In 2020 there were approximately 13,400 nuclear weapons worldwide, compared with 63,632 in 1985, the high point for the global nuclear weapon stockpile.
ARTISTS AGAINST THE BOMB invites artists from all over the world to participate, and each participating artist then nominates two other artists to take part in hopes of sparking a chain reaction. Part of the inspiration for this project comes from Gerald Holtom, the designer of the original logo for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. He chose not to trademark his creation so that it could be freely shared in support of the campaign, and that logo is now what we know as the Peace Sign.
The poster series was first publicly introduced in Vienna at the MST1, first Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW. Afterward, it was presented at the Køs Museum in Copenhagen, on billboards across the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, at Festival Ceremonia in Mexico City, and a growing number of other venues. The closing project will be presented in November of 2023 at the MST2, at the Visitor Lobby inside the United Nations in New York City, and at a parallel exhibition at the Judd Foudantion to expand the project’s exposure.
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PUSSY RIOT /
NADYA TOLOKONNIKOVA
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MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) doctrine, emblematic of the Cold War, posits mutual annihilation as a deterrent to nuclear war. This principle inflicts a profound emotional toll, symbolizing humanity in perpetual precarity. Pussy Riot’s MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) illuminates this existential dilemma, juxtaposing the innocence of a girl warrior against Goliath, and challenges the 21st century to seek a more sustainable and harmonious global ethos, that transcend the doctrine of mutual destruction.
Conceptual artist and activist Nadya Tolokonnikova is the creator of Pussy Riot, a global feminist protest art movement. Pussy Riot stands for gender fluidity, inclusivity, matriarchy, love, laughter, decentralization, anarchy and anti-authoritarianism.
Born in Siberia, Tolokonnikova studied philosophy in Moscow, holds an honorary doctorate from RISD, and authored the book Read and Riot: Pussy Riot’s Guide to Activism. She is the co-founder of independent news service Mediazona, Unicorn DAO; has spoken before the US Congress, British Parliament, European Parliament; appeared as herself on season 3 of House of Cards; performed at Banksy’s Dismaland exhibition; created an installation at [CONTAINER], appeared on the cover of Time magazine as women of the year, and was imprisoned in Russia for 2 years following an anti-Putin performance. Tolokonnikova’s works are included in museum collections internationally, and she is represented by Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe.
Mutually Assured Destruction, by Nadya Tolokonnikova/Pussy Riot, image courtesy Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe
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