The anti-Trump arts movement Fall of Freedom is back for a second year, and it has grown significantly. Hundreds of events are planned across the United States this weekend, from October 2 through October 4. The initiative was organized by a group of cultural workers including artist Dread Scott, artist Jenny Polak, playwright Lynn Nottage, and writer and curator Laura Raicovich. It follows its inaugural run last November.
A joint production between two playwrights stands at the center of the announcement: Undersiege, created by Nottage with Dominique Morisseau, who holds a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship grant. Over 40 Black women and femmes deliver their own monologues within the piece. The work will be shown at the uptown museum home to the National Black Theatre and the Studio Museum in Harlem on Friday, October 2.
What Fall of Freedom Is
The title “Fall of Freedom” plays with language, signifying at once the hope and the doubt that define today’s political moment.
The Target List
Since the start of the Trump administration’s campaign, there has been a sustained attack on the arts and freedom of speech. The list below gives some of the specific examples of that assault.
- The president’s ongoing efforts to stamp his name on the Kennedy Center
- Repeated threats to strip federal funding from and influence programming at the Smithsonian Institution
- Targeting of public artworks like Joel Shapiro’s “Blue” (2019) and José de Rivera’s “Infinity” (1967)
The Weekend Lineup
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Oct 2 | Undersiege at the Studio Museum in Harlem |
| Oct 2–Oct 4 | Hundreds of events across the United States |
Artists Speak Out
Over email, Hyperallergic spoke with Scott, who said “Fascism in the United States is advancing and metastasizing. Migrants are being deported in record numbers. The rule of law is in tatters. And the arts are assaulted. They want to silence us. But artists and musicians are unruly and we refuse to be quiet.”.
Hyperallergic spoke with Nottage by email, and she said: “Artists are collectively using this moment to say our voices won’t and can’t be silenced.” She also added: “It is beautiful to witness how many people across the country have responded to this call to action by organizing concerts, readings, workshops, exhibits and salons centering art as a form of resistance, celebration and liberation.”
A History of Resistance
This year, Fall of Freedom expanded its scope, staging a series of art and activist gatherings across the country in connection with May Day. For this autumn, the organization has arranged a Roger Guenver Smith solo exhibition at the New York Theatre Workshop, paying tribute to painter Jean-Michel Basquiat.
In Little Rock, Arkansas, a gathering centers on creating small self-published books, an activity now being questioned by officials in Washington. Meanwhile, in DC, a separate meeting at the Kennedy Center asks people to bring forward tales they hold dear about that very building.
Last autumn, organizers staged a dance demonstration at the Kennedy Center in reaction to Trump’s authoritarian policies.
Why Creativity Matters
Last year, Kris Grey, a transgender and nonbinary artist who took part in the first edition of Fall of Freedom, penned an essay for Hyperallergic. Grey argued that creativity counts as a form of resistance and that during times such as these, art is not a luxury but a means of staying alive.
The Pattern of Attack
The assaults upon arts institutions have followed a well-known course. The administration has again and again threatened to take away federal money from the Smithsonian and try to control its shows. It has singled out particular works, among them Shapiro’s “Blue” and Rivera’s “Infinity.”
This push to stamp names upon the Kennedy Center is part of a broader effort aimed at stripping away the independence of cultural institutions.
The Scale of Response
Across the nation, hundreds of gatherings prove the movement is enduring. The reaction has been wide-ranging and uncoordinated, from dance protests to zine-making workshops.
This movement rests on the idea that creativity serves as resistance in its own right. It does not treat art as a mere comfort during hard times. Instead, it sees artistic creation as a means of staying alive.
The reason the movement has lasted is tied to that conviction. That is what has pushed it from a single start into hundreds of events. That is what keeps artists organizing, producing work, and pushing back against power.
“It is beautiful to witness how many people across the country have responded to this call to action by organizing concerts, readings, workshops, exhibits and salons centering art as a form of resistance, celebration and liberation.”
Hundreds of anti-Trump art actions are returning to Fall of Freedom this weekend, and the lineup reads as a statement of defiance.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs free speech for all, including the artists behind Fall of Freedom and those who attend their events, and is against any government or platform that would decide what may be said. The arts have long served as a space where dissent can gather and speak, and the paper supports that tradition rather than any effort to limit it.
The movement’s growth shows the strength of that impulse. Hundreds of events across the country show that people are willing to organize, produce work, and push back against power, without waiting for permission from Washington. That is a healthy sign of a free society, not a threat to it.
Readers should watch for any attempt to frame artistic dissent as a problem to be solved, whether from officials or from platforms that claim the right to judge speech. The paper will continue to defend the right of artists to speak, whatever the subject, wherever the stage.
Source material: “Fall of Freedom Returns With Hundreds of Anti-Trump Art Actions,” Hyperallergic.
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