The anti-capitalist movement of the 1990s for me will always be associated with Genoa and the sight of burning cars and the whirl of tear gas canisters inches above your head.

Of course, it all started with Seattle which this November will reach its tenth anniversary. The coming together of the Teamster union members and the turtle dressed environmentalists opened up a spectacular battle between the many thousands of protesters and the few heads of state at conference.
The global movement which grew out of Seattle with world social forums and demonstrations plaguing the WTO meetings and G8 summits remains scarred on the retina because of the brilliance of the design and use of emerging technologies to organise.
When anti-capitalism came to the UK the most outward looking an innovative organisation was Globalise Resistance. Where anarchist-only groups mainly wore black and met in secret, GR organised mass participation, used the mainstream media and threw an orange bucket of paint into the movement.
The train to Genoa carring more than a thousand protesters across Europe so they could try and breach the Red Zone was the high water mark. But the explosion of design has also left its mark.Noel Douglas was the brains behind the Globalise Resistance designs and the university lecturer is now curating an exhibition titled Signs of Revolt to mark the anniversary of Seattle and celebrate the grass routes design that followed in its wake.
Noel writes on the event website: "Signs of Revolt is an exhibition that weaves together the story of the past decades social movements, drawing out the influences and connections between and across the movements against capitalism, war and climate change.
"Using archive material and documentary photography and video from movement photographers and filmmakers, it reveals the story of how we got from Seattle to Copenhagen.
"Interspersed in this narrative are works by artist and designer activists and collectives, produced during, within and for the movements."
"This is the first time such a collection has been brought together in the UK and it will be a chance to reflect upon and celebrate the new creative impulses that the movements spawned.
The blurb concludes: "As capitalism threatens our very existence, Signs of Revolt defiantly maps out possible routes to a future filled with hope…"
Jonathan Barnbrook of Adbusters, illustrator Jody Boehnart, Stop the War designer David Gentlemen, John Jordan formally of Reclaim the Streets and political montage duo kennardphillipps will be represented along with the Rebel Clown Army, Movement of the Imagination and the Space Hijackers.
Guy Taylor, who was at the centre of Globalise Resistance, said: "It all looks to be quite a momentus occasion, the likes of GR, the Clowns and the Hijackers along with Barnbrook, kennardphillips and Gentlemen represent almost all the serious and influential parts of the design of resistance in the UK."
The event opens at the Old Truman Brewery in East London's Brick Lane with evening drinks on Friday, November 13 through the weekend. For more info contact visit the website, email show@signsofrevolt.net or call 07989 471159.
*This is a repost, but I think a worthwhile one!
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