From the Suffragettes to Rock Against Racism to the march against the Iraq War, protest has long shaped the UK’s cultural, social and political landscape. Recently, however, this fundamental democratic right has come under intense scrutiny.

The Public Order Act 2023 granted law enforcement agencies new powers to restrict public demonstrations deemed likely to cause “serious disruption”. Against this backdrop, a new exhibition in east London reminds us of protest’s radical past while reasserting its relevance today.

Curated by the Museum of UnRest and Pro Radix, The Right to Protest gathers more than 200 protest posters spanning six decades, much of which drawn from the archives of the UK’s two largest private collections: the Paddington Printshop and the Red Shoes Poster Archive.

Alongside this veritable treasure trove of historic material, visitors will encounter new and existing works by a heavyweight line-up of artists, designers and collectives, including Clive Russell, Sarah Boris, Phil Wrigglesworth, Pig Meat and Ocean Rebellion, to name a few.

The visual language on display is as diverse as it is urgent – from the bold typography of Anthony Burrill to the punchy photomontage of kennardphillipps, via Mr Bingo’s playful satire and the acerbic provocations of Stuart Semple.

Workshops, talks and participatory ‘radical acts’ expand the exhibition beyond the gallery, emphasising protest as something to be lived rather than simply observed. To this end, co-curator and director of the Museum of UnRest (formerly Paddington Printshop) John Phillips describes the exhibition as “a call to arms in a world where our right to protest is under threat”.

Speaking about the importance of such archives, Phillips adds: “They are a cultural memory. None of us invent new things – we all draw on the imagery and the memory of the past. An archive is a living thing that’s constantly in dialogue with itself, and in this case it’s important as a source to reference similarities of struggles and experiences.”

In an increasingly divisive political climate where the space for peaceful protest appears to be shrinking, The Right to Protest argues that creativity and resistance remain inseparable, and that defending this long-established form of expression is itself a collective act.

The Right to Protest runs until 28 September at 10 Greatorex Street, as part of Shoreditch Design Triangle; museum-of-unrest.org