Protest: Tautohetohe

by Matariki Williams, Puawai Cairns, and Stephanie Gibson

For a small, peaceful democracy in the South Pacific, New Zealand has had its fair share of major protest issues, and over the decades New Zealanders have become adept at mobilising around causes. From protest about war – be it the New Zealand Wars, the Great War, the Vietnam War or the invasion of Iraq – to trade union action, protests against apartheid and nuclear ship visits, protest for the rights of women and LGBTQI people, protests for better race relations and to protect the environment, and protest to save key services and protect heritage, Aotearoa New Zealand has a long legacy of activism. This richly illustrated book brings together the objects made by protesters to proclaim and symbolise their causes and their struggles. From banners to badges, t-shirts to teatowels, posters to photographs, it is a vivid reflection of 250 years of resistance and persistence.

Winner of the 2020 Ockham New Zealand for Illustrated Non-Fiction Book Award
“The tactile, hand-hewn approach to design complements the huge variety of assiduously collected objects that are this book’s focus. From the obscure and ephemeral to the well-known and loved, the images allow us to be witness to – and challenge us to learn from – our shared past of resistance, dissent and activism.”

Reviews
Protest Tautohetohe on Villainesse "This new book from Te Papa press includes hundreds of objects that have stories that are sad, funny, and inspiring. Reading about social movements is one thing, but seeing the physical evidence of another time, another set of concerns, and the material culture that people produced to get their voices heard is something else.”

Protest Tautohetohe on The Spinoff "A collection of objects become the markers of every movement, and Stephanie Gibson, Matariki Williams and Puawai Cairns have collated some of the most important, most beautiful and most confronting of these into Protest Tautohetohe, an illustrated history of protest and activism in Aotearoa.”

Protest Tautohetohe in the New Zealand Herald "Protest Tautohetohe is a book for those who were there, those who are now and everyone who might want to understand it. It’s not a straight history, but a record of movements and events told through the presentation of “objects”: the posters, banners, T-shirts and badges, flags, photos and the other paraphernalia of protest that has somehow ended up in the collections off museums.”

ISBN 978-0-9941460-4-5
Flexibind, 416 pages
Dimensions: 290 x 240mm
Publication date: November 2019
Publisher: Te Papa Press

Price: $70