What can the medieval face mask tell us about the role that medical face coverings play, not only in prevention of illness, but also as a signifier of identities and anxieties? Sadegh Attari explores how medical, cultural, and religious…
The campaign for women’s ordination dominated discussions about the Church of England’s gender politics during the twentieth century. Grace Heaton examines the badges produced by campaigners and untangles some of the powerful emotions…
What can a gallery comments book tell us about the role radical photography can play in social change? Ruby Rees-Sheridan discusses the Half Moon Photography Workshop Comments Book as a radical object.
How does a small gavel on display in the offices of Britain's National Secular Society commemorate past struggles for free thought and free speech? Robert Forder explores.
Walter Sickert's portrait of Charles Bradlaugh, atheist, republican, and birth control pioneer, weaves together disparate threads of late nineteenth century British radical history. Robert Forder explores.
As the festive season approaches and thoughts turn to gifts and treats, Edmund Wareham explains how gingerbread could be a Radical Object in medieval & early modern Germany.
Is Maggi Hambling's 'A Sculpture for Mary Wollstonecraft' attuned to the intellectual accomplishments of the woman it was created for, or to the particular struggles of women in the present? Vic Clarke investigates.
Shahmima Akhtar explores a postcard from the Irish village of 'Ballymaclinton', a display at the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition in London created to promote an Irish soap brand and a politically white Irish unionism.
How did an American comic book publisher become a crusader in the fight against HIV/AIDS? Frances Reed unearths the forgotten story of Eclipse Enterprises and its collectable AIDS trading cards, currently on display at the Royal College of…
The Poster Workshop was the first of the radical screen-printing workshops in London, and its posters offer a mirror to the political preoccupations of the times.
John Marnell on MaThoko’s old post box, which played an important role as a key communication node for the nascent LGBT movement in South Africa during the 1980s and 1990s.
Ulrike Wöhr Greenham unpacks this photo of Hiro Sumpter, and what it reveals about the politics of race and ethnicity at the Royal Air Force Greenham Common airbase in Berkshire, UK.
The Palestinian History Tapestry aims to tell and preserve the story of the Palestinian people, their livelihoods and traditions, and their struggle under colonial rule and Israeli occupation.
The birth certificate and birthday card of transgender activist, actress and fashion model, April Ashley, whose life is celebrated in an exhibition at the Museum of Liverpool until 21 September 2014.
Radical Objects: A menu of a meal at the House of Commons in London in 1909, hosted by the Labour Party leader James Keir Hardie, with Labour MPs and a South African deputation led by W. P. Schreiner
An exploration of the plaster casts of the first labouring man to enter Parliament, and founder of the National Agricultural Labourer’s Union, Joseph Arch, written by Karen Sayer
The Italian patriot and exile, Giuseppe Garibaldi, enjoyed legendary fame in mid-Victorian Britain. Marcella Pellegrino Sutcliffe explores some artefacts from this period that bear his image
This political tract 'The Tryal of Lieutenant Colonel John Lilburn' links indelibly two of the most commanding figures in English radicalism, both of whom won key legal victories against the executive and so helped to establish greater…
A t-shirt created by a group of young people from the Brighton Peace & Environment Centre, who attended the Hague Appeal for Peace Conference in May, 1999
A small brass miner won as a raffle prize during a 'Miners Gala' held in Suffolk in 1984 at the peak of the Miners Strike, to raise funds to support the striking miners and their families
