Rebellion comes to Williamson Art Gallery this winter
The cultural position of protest in modern day Britain is explored in a new photography exhibition at the Williamson Art Gallery & Museum this winter.
Marc Davenant: REBELLION! Opens at the Birkenhead venue today and runs until February.
Davenant, who was born and brought up in the north east, is an award-winning photographer who works with marginalised communities and uses photography to highlight social inequality. His work has been exhibited across the UK, including at the Houses of Parliament, and internationally.
In 2023 the Slatey Road gallery hosted his Outsiders documentary photography project which aimed to capture a snapshot of homelessness and substandard housing in contemporary Britain across a six-year period.
Rebellion! was completed by Davenant over a period of 12 years and includes three of his winning photographs from the Portrait of Britain competition (which he has won twice).
It includes photographs and testimony from protesters as well as from those who may have been targeted by the protests and explores the social issues around protest, such as the fracturing of social cohesion in blighted post-industrial communities, which fuel dissatisfaction with the status quo.
Above: Brent Alpha oil platform. Top: My Skin is Not a Weapon, Black Lives Matter Luton. Photos by Marc Davenant.
Davenant says: “This exhibition is a celebration of protest as an essential part of our cultural identity. Virtually every human right we have today carries a watermark of those in the past who stood up to their rulers and said: ‘enough is enough’.
“The right to protest peacefully is a precious but fragile flame to be nurtured and protected against those who would casually snuff it out.”
Williamson Art Gallery Curator Josh Mackarell adds: “With protest so frequently in the news cycle, Rebellion! is a timely exhibition. Davenant’s non-partisan view on the causes, actions and impacts of protests creates an exhibition that gives every viewer the chance to make up their own mind about this social phenomenon.”
After Birkenhead, the Rebellion! exhibition is also set to go on to visit Lichfield, Ynyshir in South Wales, and Hereford.
Meanwhile Davenant’s next project is titled 50 Years On and explores ‘the impact of five decades of neoliberalism and deindustrialisation’ on six post-industrial areas in Britain and includes images from Ellesmere Port.
Marc Davenant: REBELLION! Is at the Williamson Art Gallery & Museum until February 20, 2027 and is free.