Is the party a protest: are the artists reigniting political activism?

While far-right movements tighten their grip on European politics and seek to capture culture – by buying media outlets, installing party figures in cultural institutions, and shifting the boundaries of public discourse – a countercurrent is emerging. Across the continent, "artivists" are reclaiming culture as a space of democratic resistance and using art to promote solidarity and inclusion. Will they be able to revive Europe's political imagination and remobilize citizens?

It is a rainy Saturday night in September, on an old disused railway yard in southeastern Paris, now transformed into a temporary venue for events celebrating social and cultural innovation. Despite the downpour on this second night of the Fluctuations Festival, the crowd – an energetic mix of men and women aged between 20 and 45 – dances vigorously and sings aloud. On stage, four members of the French collective Planète Boum Boum deliver an energetic performance.

The crowd shouts in unison: La vraie menace n'arrive pas en bateau, elle est ici, c'est les fachos! («The real threat doesn't arrive by boat, it's here: it's the fascists!»)

As frenetic techno beats pulse through the crowd, the four performers shout their slogans into the microphone with conviction. They engage in simple but effective choreographies that the audience can easily reproduce. Keeping a serious tone isn't the goal; on stage and off, everyone is having a politically conscious good time.

Across Europe, collectives, non-profit organizations, and individuals are organizing to rekindle the flame of democratic engagement. Some of the most successful initiatives have mobilized tools that go beyond the traditional manual of political activism: the arts.

And yet, beyond the concert venue, the political environment is radically different. The first shock came in 2002, when Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the National Front and a veteran of the army accused of torturing independence fighters in Algeria in the 1960s, reached the second round of the presidential elections. Sixteen years later, however, the party reinvented itself as Rassemblement National (RN) and now enjoys unprecedented support: RN has the highest number of representatives in the European Parliament and is the largest party in the National Assembly.

Throughout Europe, the political landscape is taking on an increasingly dark blue hue. Far-right parties are in government in more than a quarter of EU member states. Even in countries where they do not govern, they exert considerable influence over political and public discourse. This is also visible at the EU level, where the European People's Party – the largest political group in the European Parliament – has aligned itself increasingly with the far right.

These developments make resistance spaces – like the one in southeastern Paris – crucial. Across Europe, collectives, non-profit organizations, and individuals are organizing to rekindle the flame of democratic engagement. Some of the most successful initiatives have mobilized tools that go beyond the traditional manual of political activism: the arts. The term artivist is increasingly used to describe people who participate in protests through art.

Cultural resistance, rediscovered

A combination of art and activist, this term first appeared in 1997 to describe the union of Chicano artists in the United States and the Zapatista movement in Mexico. It captured a moment when artistic expression and grassroots activism merged to challenge social and political inequalities in both countries. Today, as right-wing governments in countries like Italy, Germany, Hungary, and France withdraw funding from independent artistic practices or install politically aligned figures at the head of cultural institutions, the (re)emergence of this politically motivated approach to art seems especially significant.

“We didn't invent anything new,” says Marie Cohuet, a member of the collective Planète Boum Boum. “When we look at the history of struggles everywhere, there have always been people making music, singing, putting on shows, and doing things that, in one way or another, help keep the fight alive in the long term, creating a sense of cohesion.”

Planète Boum Boum's approach combines the historical nature of raves with the theories of French philosopher Florian Gaité, an expert in free parties. Gaité advocates a radical view of clubbing and dance, in which the pointless, futile, and unproductive exhaustion of the body is an act of anti-capitalist resistance.

Planète Boum Boum, a collective of nine activists who met through the organization Action Justice Climat, states that their goal is “to bring the party to protests and the protest to parties.” They energize marches or political gatherings and are now also frequently invited to DJ at clubs and "apolitical" events.

Only one member of the group has formal musical training, as most only started singing when the collective was formed. When these activists realized that music and dance were effective levers, they decided to incorporate them into their work. Their approach – which they describe as techno-activism – combines the historical nature of raves, designed to unite people, with the theories of French philosopher Florian Gaité, an expert in free parties. Gaité advocates a radical view of clubbing and dance, in which the pointless, futile, and unproductive exhaustion of the body is an act of anti-capitalist resistance.

The rise in popularity of Planète Boum Boum began in 2023, when a video went viral showing some of its members leading a march against unpopular pension reforms through dance. Since then, their profile on Spotify has accumulated hundreds of thousands of plays.

“We are living in difficult times. Our political context is deteriorating. Racist attacks are exploding, and we have deep inequalities. Globally, it’s terrifying,” says Cohuet. “I think there is a real need for us to unite and feel that we have some power and strength when we come together. Music really creates that. That’s what works well with Planète Boum Boum: we use a lot of caricature, satire, and humor. It’s important to feel that we are not condemned, that we have the capacity to change things.”

Thanks to social media, the visibility of “artivists” has grown, supporting social, environmental, and anti-fascist organizations.

The collective addresses a wide variety of themes. Planète Boum Boum tackles social and climate justice from different angles: calling for the preservation of public services, criticizing unfair pension reforms amid the climate crisis, denouncing the incompatibility between far-right ideologies and environmental action. This is happening at a crucial moment for Europe: despite growing ecological awareness, Green parties and environmental regulation have suffered setbacks as the continent grapples with high living costs and a war on European soil. At the same time, far-right parties have capitalized on these crises, both to fuel and respond to citizens’ feelings of insecurity. Still, thanks to social media, the visibility of artivists has increased, supporting social, environmental, and anti-fascist organizations.

I think there is a real need for us to unite,” says Marie Cohuet of Planète Boum. “Music really creates that. We use a lot of caricature, satire, and humor. It’s important to feel that we are not condemned, that we have the capacity to change things.”

“We regularly collaborate with unions, socially engaged media, and collectives linked to causes. The goal is to highlight their efforts and empower them, whether by mobilizing people who wouldn’t normally hear about these issues or by directing them toward specific actions, such as attending a demonstration on a certain date, signing a petition, or joining a collective,” explains Cohuet. “We manage to draw attention to causes at key moments, like the vote against including PFAS in everyday products, the privatization of freight rail transport by the government, or issues surrounding the Duplomb law.”

These success stories had a strong impact on French society. In February 2025, lawmakers voted to ban PFAS (known as forever chemicals) in cosmetics, clothing, footwear, and ski waxes starting in 2026. During the summer of 2025, more than 2.1 million citizens signed a petition hosted on the official National Assembly platform demanding the revocation of the Duplomb law, which included a clause that would have allowed the reintroduction of acetamiprid, a highly carcinogenic pesticide. Under public pressure, the French Constitutional Court annulled the controversial provision.

Music drives change in Greece

Meanwhile, other artivist organizations have chosen to operate on a more local scale. For example, El Sistema Greece uses music education to promote social inclusion. It offers free music classes in refugee camps and shelters for unaccompanied minors, as well as for the local population in urban centers in Athens and Corinth.

“We work on three levels: our students, their families, and then society,” explains Angeliki Georgokosta, director-general of El Sistema Greece. “We work with our students to boost their self-esteem. We try to create an environment that encourages and motivates children to become active citizens. When we have our classes, our concerts, we have people of different ethnicities, languages, and religions. All come together solely through music.” She adds that the organization’s goal is to make Greek society more open to diversity and to overcome the fear of newcomers that is growing in the country.

We try to create an environment that encourages and motivates children to become active citizens. When we have our concerts, we have people of different ethnicities, languages, and religions. All come together solely through music.

- Angeliki Georgokosta, director-general of El Sistema Greece.

Since 2016, more than 3,500 people have participated in El Sistema Greece’s classes. In the 2024-2025 school year alone, nearly 16,000 people attended their performances.

“We give concerts not only in our community spaces but also in the largest theaters in Athens, such as the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center and the Athens Concert Hall. We try to be part of mainstream culture. This way, people who are not directly connected to the students also see this orchestra achieving good results with individuals from 40 different nationalities and very diverse backgrounds. We want to plant the seed that this can also be our society,” says Georgokosta. “We often use repertoire that is neither classical nor Greek. We have used music from each of our students’ countries. We want to celebrate all the people within our community.”

Greece has been strengthening immigration controls since 2019, going as far as issuing a three-month suspension of asylum requests in July 2025, in violation of international law. Its government has also been accused of corruption. At least 325,000 protesters gathered in Athens and Thessaloniki in February 2025 to demand justice for the 57 people who died in the Tempi accident in 2023, involving a passenger train and a freight train. This railway accident, the largest in the country’s history, sparked an ongoing political scandal. Official reports state that the accident was due to human error and a railway network with maintenance failures, but the victims’ families claim that details are being covered up. An expert report they commissioned shows that the freight train was carrying chemicals that caused the explosion and suffocation of passengers previously unharmed by the collision.

But the artivism of El Sistema Greece creates bridges in communities fractured by polarized political discourse, and its students turn to organization to navigate Greece’s politically charged climate. “We see that [these political developments] are difficult for everyone to process, even for our team. That’s why we are meeting with universities and people who have worked for many years in social sciences so they can lead discussions on these topics with all our students. We see how crucial this is. We can no longer avoid it.”

This involvement will expand what the organization had already started with its Young Leaders program, a group of 15 students who met once a month for workshops on how they could use music, El Sistema Greece, and their community to make decisions and speak about issues that matter to them. One of the main goals of the program was to teach participants about children’s rights and human rights, so they could understand and defend their own rights and those of others.

“We are turning into a more holistic program, which is not only about music but about how it can be used as a powerful tool to speak about the most pressing social issues of our time. It’s also about creating space for children to speak for themselves, express themselves, and say what their future should be, so they have a voice.”

Re-enchanting politics

What is at stake for artivists, whether on a national or local scale, is a change in narrative: as much about who tells the story and embodies new futures, as about the collective imaginary being promoted.

“Art and culture are the last shields we have to defend democracy, freedom, our ability to understand, respect, and discover each other, and to go beyond what makes us different. They also train our creativity,” says Paula Forteza, founder of the Parisian gallery Artivistas, which promotes Latin American artivists residing in France and South America.

Forteza is co-president of the non-profit organization Démocratie ouverte and was a deputy in France from 2017 to 2022. She turned to artivism as a way to explore new paths for democratic participation after realizing that conventional politics would not be the most effective route for her, given the institutional distrust among citizens.

“What I felt in politics was that there was a real lack of creativity. I think politicians would do well to take art classes or workshops to renew their ideas,” says Forteza. “I believe we really need to develop artistic practices. They are antidotes to the values of the far right and what their spokespersons try to implement: intolerance, disdain, aggression, violence, and polarization.”

What I felt in politics was that there was a real lack of creativity. I think politicians would do well to take art classes or workshops to renew their ideas” - Paula Forteza, founder of the gallery Artivistas.

This cultural battle is becoming increasingly complex, as the far right has also heavily invested in the cultural sphere to amplify its messages and shift the Overton window, spreading a discourse fueled by hatred – through acquiring media outlets and publishers, as well as funding cultural products that perpetuate outdated narratives of white hegemony.

As people move away from traditional media and politics, artivists play a crucial role in keeping the fight against injustice alive. Guided by creativity, joy, and non-violent resistance, their actions can help build a supportive and participatory society.

We really need to develop artistic practices. They are antidotes to the values of the far right and what their spokespersons try to implement: intolerance, disdain, aggression, violence, and polarization.

“When I was studying in Argentina, I wrote a thesis that linked periods of economic crisis with cultural activity and artistic production. Through the data, it became very clear that in times of crisis, cultural activity explodes,” recalls Forteza.

“Artivism can certainly re-enchant politics – in the noble sense of the word – and the battles over values. I think it speaks to a broader audience. It has that kind of sincerity inherent in artistic expression, which comes from the heart.”