The State: The Coming Insurrection

The Invisible Committee is the collective pen-name for a small group of French post-Situationist intellectuals and academics, who in 2007 authored The Coming Insurrection, and in 2008 were arrested in France on charges of terrorism. The Coming Insurrection is a commentary on contemporary society and the building revolt against governmental and economic oppression. It references collapsing economies, crashing monetary systems, corrupted democracies, environmental degradation, global crises, riots, protests and above all, a moral and social decay.

'THE STATE' presents a group exhibition which takes its title from the book, and is a continuation of ‘THE STATE’, a socio-historical journal & forum, and a symbolic transition from the last exhibition 'Social/Antisocial?', which dealt with socialization and the current state of people and behavior. The Coming Insurrection is a response to the causes of discontent, namely mass injustice, corruption and greed in our societies and world at large. It deals with reasons for the current social condition, illustrating examples of it, and providing remedies.

As Rami Farook, curator of the exhibition, puts it "Similar to the book, many of the works touch on aspects of the self, social relations, work, the economy, the environment, and civilization, while searching for a social solution to the present. It is our duty as citizens, activists, mentors, monitors and advisors to raise a clamour to change the conditions. By being warned, the insurrection can be directed.”