22/08/2026
As part of our Special Exhibition, we explore how costumes and characters have been used as tools of dissent. Last post we looked at the clown… this time it's the fairy 🧚♀️
In 2000, protests took place against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Summit in Prague. The organisers recognised the need for a diversity of tactics and so set up 4 different marches, each with their own style. The fourth bloc was ‘pink and silver’ for those who wished to use methods of ‘tactical frivolity’.
12 women set off from Yorkshire to take part in this action with 2 men, 2 vans and 1 reporter.
The women faced numerous obstacles, with increasing security measures attempting to suppress the action.
They dressed in shimmering pink/silver costumes, carried feather dusters, danced to samba and marched with drummers called ‘Rhythms of Resistance’ alongside 60,000 other people.
Of the four protest blocs, theirs got the furthest to the summit.
Their story is captured in a documentary created by Maren Freeland, now showing in our exhibition, with voices of the women themselves reflecting on how they weaponised joy. In it, you can hear Rosie Nobbs talking about the theory behind ‘tactical frivolity’.
We were delighted to welcome Kate Evans, one of the participants, to the museum and to hear her memories of this protest. Two of her cartoons documenting this action are also on display. (She came straight from her panel at Bradford Literature Festival to talk about her book ‘Patchwork: A Graphic Biography of Jane Austen’, hence the costume).
Tactical Frivolity: Joy in Resistance
On display until 30th August
