Tàpies: Art and activism

Tàpies and human rights

With the advent of democracy in Spain, Antoni Tàpies extended his range of militancy in political and anti-repressive causes to the international arena. There were few conflicts in contemporary history to which Tàpies did not lend the solidarity of his artistic gesture. He supported the struggle against the dictatorships in Chile and Uruguay and the calls for amnesty for political prisoners. In Africa, he spoke out on several occasions against apartheid in South Africa, against racism and hunger on the continent, and expressed his solidarity with UNICEF and the Red Cross. He supported the freedom of oppressed peoples and participated in the many peace demonstrations that took place throughout the world in the 1980s and 1990s, especially during the Balkan Wars. He also took part in major social and political campaigns in Catalonia and Spain, such as the fight against joining NATO or against the construction of nuclear power plants.