Description
In the Philippines, new frameworks are required to make sense of the unique situation and human rights crisis taking place under the government’s instrumental “war on drugs” – framed to be a national necessity. Security building (and dismantling) is a complex, multi-layered, multi-actor and multi-modal communicative process. A rich variety of non-state actors, including non-governmental organisations, religious affiliated groups, amateur artists, student activists and individuals are actively trying to desecuritise and reverse the state security policies to prevent the extra-judicial killings that have become national policy. In an environment of suppressed civic space and a restricted ability to speak out freely, the role of the visual moves to the forefront of community resistance. This paper explores the activities taking place by those trying to protect human rights. Moving beyond the traditional modes of protest, this research has comprised an “image bank” that includes street art, graffiti, performative bodily displays such as “die ins”, photo art collections, symbols and community art workshops that seek to examine how the visual can “speak back to power” and denounce the war on drugs. In addition to this, the research draws on interviews with non-state actors involved in these activities, to gain insights into their experiences. The research aims to add to the body of literature on art as advocacy, grassroots resistance, the power of images, non-state actor agency, human rights promotion, contested spaces in illiberal democracies, and desecuritisation in practice.
Key Words: desecuritising, non-state actors, images, art advocacy, Philippines
