Occupy Museums

The Occupied Museum – Noah Fischer (2014)

2011-Present, Blockade/Barricade, Date, Defining the Enemy, Disruptive Spaces, Institutions, Occupation, Privatization, Sabotage/Ecotage, Tactics of Disruption, The Bourgeoisie

In this piece, Noah Fischer, a founding member of the Occupy Museums movement, examines the group’s efforts to address economic inequality in the art world and promote alternative models of economic exchange. Emerging from the Occupy Wall Street protests, the movement views museums as vehicles for reinforcing capitalist ideals. In response, Occupy Museums uses direct actions—such as uninvited performances, public gatherings, and the repurposing of museum spaces—to challenge these structures. The goal is to reclaim public spaces, inspire greater community involvement, and create opportunities for creative expression and collective unrest.

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Manifest of “Occupy Museums” (n.d.)

Defining the Enemy, Disruptive Spaces, Institutions, Occupation, Privatization, Tactics of Disruption

This is a declaration by the activist group Occupy Museums, stating the direct actions they have taken to expose a cultural system of inequality and exploitation within the American and International art world. Inspired by the 2011 Occupy Wall Street Movement, Occupy Museums seeks to bring the critique of wealth and inequality to the cultural sphere where finance and aesthetics currently intersect.

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“WE OCCUPY MUSEUMS TO RECLAIM SPACE FOR MEANINGFUL CULTURE BY AND FOR THE 99%. WE BELIEVE THAT ART AND CULTURE ARE THE SOUL OF THE COMMONS. ART IS NOT A LUXURY!”