How do you interact with people who come to your exhibition, watch your flashmob, or just pass by your protest action? Handing out leaflets and pamphlets is fine, but it’s not always the most engaging way. There are other ideas!
One cool contribution, which comes from China, is where LGBT activists were staging a mock same-sex wedding ceremony in public, as part of a campaign for marriage equality. However, handing out pamphlets is not allowed in China, so activists feared that they would clash with police, which would have serious consequences for their safety. So they had the very clever idea of handing out red roses to people watching their ceremony.
The red roses were wrapped in a piece of paper containing the demands for marriage equality. By the time the police decided whether this amounted to handing out pamphlets, the protest action was over.
Fortune cookies could be a nice alternative—treats wrapped in a message explaining the point of the protest or pointing passers-by to further information.
Rainbow rose
From the Netherlands, the country of flowers among all, we bring you a lovely, creative idea that will stun your audience:
- Start off with a white rose with an 8-9-inch stem.
- Choose some water-soluble colors. They should be very different from each other and have a high contrast value.
- Collect cups/glasses filled with water for each color. Add color to the water and steer well. Add drops of color until the water becomes totally opaque.
- Split the stem into several equal channels. Use a knife or sharp blade to cut lengthwise up to 6 inches.
- Dip each channel in a different dye.
- Wait for 24 hours and see the magic. The colors will move upwards through the xylem to the petals, and the resultant rose will have all the colors in it.
- Take the rose out and bind the split ends using adhesive tape.
- The same method can be applied to other flowers, especially to chrysanthemum and hydrangea.
- Colors should be blended very well with the water. Mix it well.
- The process of splitting should be done carefully.
- Do not keep it in direct sunlight. These roses will dry up.
Flowers can be used to say many things—to apologise, to wish joy, to congratulate—but in this context, flowers are a symbol of solidarity. After the Brexit vote in the UK, flowers were put out for immigrants to take as a show of solidarity and support when tensions were heightened, many were unsure and frightened about their future.
