The Protest Banner Lending Library at PrintRoom
The concept of the Protest Banner Lending Library was created by US-based artist, writer and educator Aram Han Sifuentes (she/they), in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election. The project emerges from Aram’s interest in the subversive and socio-political potentialities of skill-sharing. Aram’s banner-making workshops can be understood as a ‘commoning’ of textile techniques, as equally poetic as it is practical. Through this gesture of designing, constructing and freely circulating banners, the Protest Banner Lending Library nurtures intergenerational community-building, social action, and both individual and collective empowerment.
In the autumn of 2021, Aram was publisher-in-residence at PrintRoom. Over the course of several workshops, Aram instructed participants on how to create a banner that requires no prior knowledge of sewing. In turn, participants are able to further distribute this knowledge to others. The resulting banners reflect a broad spectrum of personal and collective urgencies — including: the housing crisis, climate change and sustainability, LGBTQIA+ solidarity, the rights of undocumented people, and respecting our mothers. On the 9th October, a pop-up exhibition of the banner decorated the Rijnhoutplein, and a parade proceeded along the Nieuwe Binnenweg towards Eendrachtsplein.
PrintRoom is a permanent branch of Protest Banner Lending Library, currently the only such branch in the Netherlands. Banners can be loaned free of charge for a variety of occasions — including demonstrations, rallies, parades and in-door events.
If you would like to borrow a banner, please contact us: info@printroom.org
Photographs by Willem Mes
| Thumbnail Click to view in a new tab | Title/Description |
|---|---|
 | Zwarte Piet? Nee Dankje (Black Peter, no thanks) |
 | Queer the Future |
 | Cheap Housing Now |
 | We can’t eat money |
 | Fight those who exploit nature and human |
 | Touch Art |
 | Mama zegt wonen is een recht (Mom says housing is a right) |
 | Oceans rise. So do we |
 | De Bieb terug in de buurt (Bring the library back to the neighborhood) |
 | Clitoris club |
 | Idem ditto |
 | Rest your mouth properly |
 | Take less, give more |
 | καμία μόνη / Kamia Monh (Not alone) |
 | I love her and that’s ok |
 | Be better at ____ |
 | White girls acting like gay boys acting like black women |
 | Look Inward |
 | Wei Ijsen Eiskappen (We demand ice caps) |
| Image forthcoming | Respect your mother |
| Image forthcoming | Too cute to be binary |
| Image forthcoming | You can’t plan where culture happens |
| Image forthcoming | Mars is not an option |
| Image forthcoming | If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of he oppressor |