Johannesburg – Global Artivism Month is now underway. Running until 10 December 2026, the Global South and Global Majority-led mobilisation invites artists, activists, cultural practitioners, schools, community groups, organisations and movements to use arts and culture to advance social, economic and environmental justice.
Participation is free and open, and submissions are received every day until the month closes on Human Rights Day.
No one is asked to create something new.
People are invited to bring what they already make, do it where they already are, and connect it to something the whole world can see.
“For too long, those of us working for social and environmental justice have often spoken primarily to people’s heads, while failing to reach their hearts, bodies, souls and imaginations,” said Kumi Naidoo, co-founder of the Global Artivism Movement, former Secretary-General of Amnesty International and former Executive Director of Greenpeace International.
“Facts and policy matter enormously, but people do not build movements on facts alone.”
Toward a Global Proof of Life Day
Global Artivism Month culminates on 10 December, International Human Rights Day, the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.
The Global Artivism Movement is inviting people everywhere to make it a Global Proof of Life Day, a day to show, in their own language and their own art form, that humanity is still standing at a time of rising authoritarianism, war, inequality, and climate breakdown.
Proof of Life has run through Global Artivism Month from the start: every performance, mural, gathering and artwork shared during the month is a proof of life.
In the run-up to Human Rights Day, the invitation comes down to one question for artists, organizations, movements and communities: What is your proof of life?
“Humanity is still here. Our courage is still here. Our compassion is still here. Our commitment to justice is still here. Life is still here,” writes Naidoo in a letter to the people of the world calling for a Global Proof of Life Day.
The letter and the Global Artivism Month Closing Declaration, which will bring together what the month has made visible, will be published on the Global Artivism Month Hub at www.GlobalArtivismMonth.org.
Every contribution shared through the three ways of taking part below is also an answer to the Proof of Life question.
Three ways to take part
Put yourself on the map. Artists, collectives, organizations and movements can add themselves to the Global Artivism Month map, making their work and their demands visible to audiences, allies and partners around the world.
Share your event. Performances, exhibitions, workshops, gatherings and any form of cultural expression taking place during the month can be added to an international calendar, amplifying their reach and inviting more people to join in.
Share your art. Artworks and creations in any language and form can be submitted to be shown to the world as part of the Global Artivism Mosaic, a growing collective record of cultural action. Contributed works are always credited.
Contributions also feed the Daily Dispatch, an editorial newsletter published every day of the month, and the Sunrise Relay, which follows the turning of the Earth to spotlight initiatives, artists and events region by region over the course of the month.
“The creative work needed to change our societies is already happening everywhere,” said Natalia Mallo, Global Artivism Month Specialist.
“Our role is not to tell communities what to create.
“It is to help connect what they are already doing, make it visible, and enable people working in very different places to recognize themselves as part of a shared movement.”
Participation form: https://apo-opa.co/4BYZc4y
Global Artivism Month Hub: https://GlobalArtivismMonth.org
