Furtherfield Gallery has opened an exhibition of art and archival material from Piratbyrån [Piracy Bureau], the Swedish art and activist group that became instrumental in the filesharing and access conflicts of the 00's.
The exhibit includes a lot of material relating to the group's trans-European bus tour pegged to Manifesta 07. My favorite things, though, are these "riot shields 2.0," created by James Cauty. Even though Piratbyrån officially dissolved in 2010, these feel incredibly up-to-date right now. Unfortunately.
Piratbyrån and Friends runs through June 8 at Furtherfield in London [furtherfield.org, image via @Cybrsalon]
Piratbyrån and Friends album on furtherfield's flickr [flickr]
UPDATE:
Here is a making of video from Cauty, showing the production of 1.0, the first edition of 30 Smiley Riot Shields. Apparently v0.9 was created in 2011 for Occupy St Paul's. Actually, @jamescauty's twitter feed has a step-by-step tutorial for making your own SRS, since the others are sold out. Very handy.
Previously, related:
Mar 2007: Million-Real Idea - advertising on Brazilian riot shields
