Tag: protest stickers

Introducing the Turbulent London Map

London has been the subject of an untold number of maps over its long history, and now there’s one more. Maps serve many more purposes than getting you from A to B, they can also educate, entertain, and look good, as the maps featured below demonstrate. As a geographer, it’s basically compulsory for me to have an interest in maps, and I have always enjoyed looking at, and thinking about, them.

I have been thinking about the potential of mapping protest events and protest stickers for a while now. It can help build up an image of how protests and stickers are spread out across the capital. If you can identify areas of concentration for example, you can begin to think about why that might be. Unfortunately I haven’t had the skills to put this idea into practice…until now.

So without further ado, I would like to introduce the latest innovation in the world of London mapping: The Turbulent London Map! It features the location of every London protest and protest sticker featured on the blog. Purple pins are protest events, and orange pins are protest stickers. Click on the pins for more information and images.

The map is far from complete; to map every protest that’s ever taken place in London would be a gargantuan task that I cannot feasibly do alongside a PhD (although it might make a good post-doctoral project!). I will keep adding protests as I mention them in the blog. Also, the spread of the protest stickers is biased to reflect my own personal map of London; I have more pictures from locations that I visit most often, and no pictures from the places I haven’t been to (or the places I went to in the dark- my camera phone has not always been up to scratch). Again, it would be a huge project to map protest stickers across the whole city (another post-doc idea!), so here I’m asking for a little help. If you’re out and about in London and see a protest sticker, please take a picture, take a note of the street you’re on and the date, send it to me, and I’ll add to the map. I would really like to start building a more complete picture of protest stickers in London.

London’s Protest Stickers

Stickers are a ubiquitous part of the urban environment, like this sign in Cable Street.
Stickers are a ubiquitous part of the urban environment, like this sign in Cable Street (Photo: Hannah Awcock).

Stickers are a ubiquitous part of the urban environment, often more common than graffiti in city centres. They are quick, easy and cheap to produce and put up, so they are an effective way of getting a message across. They are employed for a variety of purposes, such as advertising, art and dissent. The meaning of many is not obvious, they remain indecipherable to all but the author and those with the right knowledge to decode them. They also come in many shapes and sizes, with many different techniques used to produce them. Like graffiti they are meant to be ephemeral, gradually disintegrating under the weight of the weather, idle hands and cleaners. As I move around London I photograph many of the protest stickers that I see, gradually building up a map of dissent in our capital. Below are some of the stickers I have seen.

A free education sticker outside of the University of London Union building in Malet Street on 17/02/15.
A free education sticker outside of the University of London Union building in Malet Street on 17/02/15 (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
Occupy Parliament Square Sticker seen on the 2/2/15 at King's Cross Station.
Occupy Parliament Square Sticker seen on the 02/02/15 at King’s Cross Station. This sticker has been weathered, picked, and written on- demonstrating how protest stickers can spark political debate (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
Some stickers are printed, whilst others look more handmade, like this one seen in Brick Lane on 5/6/14.
Some stickers are printed, whilst others look more handmade, like this one seen in Brick Lane on 05/06/14 (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
Some stickers advertise a particular protest, like this one in Malet Street, seen on 17/02/15.
Some stickers advertise a particular protest, like this one in Malet Street, seen on 17/02/15 (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
Not all protest stickers are left-wing, like this one seen at Euston Station on 14/11/14.
Not all protest stickers are left-wing, like this one seen at Euston Station on 14/11/14 (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
Something as simple as speech bubbles can drastically alter meaning, as with this government advert, seen on 4/2/15 in Elephant and Castle
Something as simple as speech bubbles can drastically alter meaning, as with this government advert, seen on 04/02/15 in Elephant and Castle. These stickers allow a sort of audience participation, so others can add more tax dodging companies (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
This sticker has creatively recycled a page from a book to oppose Israel. Seen in Soho on 31/12/14.
This sticker has creatively recycled a page from a book to oppose Israel. Seen in Soho on 31/12/14 (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
Protest stickers are particularly common in some areas, such Malet Street in Bloomsbury, where the University of London Union building is. This photo was taken there on 17/02/15.
Protest stickers are particularly common in some areas of the city, such Malet Street in Bloomsbury, where the University of London Union building is. This photo was taken there on 17/02/15 (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
Som stickers can be seen in multiple locations across the capital. This photo was taken outside the Inner London Crown Court in Southwark, but it has also been seen at Euston Station.
Some stickers can be seen in multiple locations across the capital. This photo was taken outside the Inner London Crown Court in Southwark, but it has also been seen at Euston Station (Photo: Hannah Awcock).