Signs of Solidarity Drops ‘Resist’ Banner at Eastern State Penitentiary’s Bastille Day Festival

A 20 ft. x 20 ft. banner from Signs of Solidarity dropped at Eastern State Penitentiary yesterday in collaboration with the Bearded Ladies Cabaret‘s Bastille Day Festival performance!

Signs of Solidarity, you may remember, is an ongoing public art project in protest of hate and divisiveness, for which I am one of three co-organizers along with Aubrie Costello and Eric Preisendanz. We started Signs of Solidarity after the election of Donald Trump. Our first city-wide exhibition popped up around Philadelphia on January 20th, Trump’s Inauguration Day. We also hosted a series of free protest sign making workshops in partnership with Mural Arts Philadelphia at the Kimmel Center this past spring. Future Signs of Solidarity events/exhibitions are in the works, so stay tuned!

To be exact, as you can see in the photos above, the banner we dropped yesterday read: “Liberté, égalité, fraternité: Resiste!” Which translates to “Liberty, equality, brotherhood: Resist!” in English.

The phrase “Liberté, égalité, fraternité” famously became the motto of the French Revolution. We added “Resist” in French to help make the motto a bit more contemporary and join the current protest movement.

Special thanks to Bearded Ladies Cabaret and Eastern State Penitentiary for inviting us to collaborate!