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How did exhibitions become a vital tool for public communication in early twentieth century Britain? Showing resistance reveals how exhibitions were taken up by activists and politicians from 1933 to 1953, becoming manifestos, weapons of war and a means of signalling political solidarities.
Drawing on dozens of examples mounted in empty shops, workers’ canteens, station ticket halls and beyond, this richly illustrated book shows how this overlooked form was created by significant makers including artists Paul Nash, John Heartfield and Oskar Kokoschka, architect Erno Goldfinger and photographer Edith Tudor-Hart.
Showing resistance is the first study of exhibitions as communications in mid-twentieth century Britain.
An electronic edition of this book is freely available under a Creative Commons (CC BY) licence.
WINNER of the Historians of British Art (HBA) 2026 Award for a book with a subject between 1800–1960
“The perspective on British art at the time that results is not only full of new detail but is rich in internationalism and political breadth. And the book is a pleasure to read – animated by an unusual and welcome spirit of generosity that brings the reader into the author’s thinking to let us know what is still uncertain and where future research might look next”.
Judges of Historians of British Art Prize (HBA)
"This is a book about a generation of designers (figures such as Erno Goldfinger, Otto Neurath and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy...) [and] more specifically a story about a generation of emigre - often Jewish - artists and designers, attempting to secure a professional foothold in 1930s Britain. 'Propaganda exhibitions' became an important vehicle (or not) for this larger process of social, political and cultural integration."
Scott Anthony in Science Museum Group Journal
"Showing Resistance marks an intelligent bringing together of findings drawn from an impressively diverse range of primary resources... The range of primary and other sources identified and explored by Atkinson is impressive and illuminating, and her bibliography a rich resource in its own right."
Jonathan M. Woodham in Journal of Design History
"Atkinson deftly examines how exhibitions conveyed messages, influenced public opinion, and reflected political and social ideologies."
Elizabeth Resnick, Prof Emerita, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston
"This first ‘extended study’ of ‘persuasive exhibitions’ in Britain is rich in historical detail and analysis."
Cheryl Buckley, Prof Emerita, Fashion and Design History, University of Brighton
Introduction: exhibitions as ‘propaganda in three dimensions’
1 Banishing ‘chaos, vulgarity and mediocrity’: training as an exhibition designer
2 Exhibitions as projection, promotion, policy and activism in three dimensions
3 Exhibitions as manifestos
4 Exhibitions as demonstrations
5 Counter-exhibitions
6 Exhibitions as solidarities
7 Exhibitions as weapons of war
8 Exhibitions as welfare
Conclusion
Index