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Let's get this political party started: a story of artists' political activism

Introduction

Just a few weeks ago, the biggest event in the American sports calendar lit up the screens of fans around the world. The Super Bowl draws millions of viewers each year, but not all of them tune in for the game itself. In fact, unless one talks to dedicated fans of American football, they are probably more likely to encounter someone who knows the latest halftime performer than the competing teams. This year's show, headlined by Bad Bunny, contained multitudes: stunning set design, Grammy-winning reggaeton, a live wedding, a guest performance by Lady Gaga, and, above all, political messaging that could not be more polarising in current discourse. It would not be very original or engaging for this entire article to revolve around one performance, as many comprehensive analyses have already been published. The halftime show shall instead be considered alongside a few miscellaneous works and performances, with reflection on each as both an isolated instance and part of a broader context.

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Bad Bunny's Halftime Show
Sylvi. “Bad Bunny Cover Photo.” Pinterest, 9 Feb. 2026, pin.it/78PgFVSxR. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.
Sylvi. “Bad Bunny Cover Photo.” Pinterest, 9 Feb. 2026, pin.it/78PgFVSxR. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.

Since the start of the current presidential term of Donald Trump, the US has introduced much harsher legislation and implementation of its immigration policy. The empowerment and increased funding of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has led to drastic situations in the streets of cities like Minneapolis with impromptu passport checks, detainments, and violence against residents. The conduct of the agency has even raised concerns in the international community, with UN officials raising concerns over possible human rights abuses. In the midst of all of this, the 68th Grammy Awards were presented. The main event of the night - the “Album of the Year” award was presented to Bad Bunny, whose previous acceptance speech following the announcement of the “Best Música Urbana Album” summed up the central message of his activism. “Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say: ICE out (...) We’re not savage, we're not animals, we're not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans.” This speech was formulated as a direct response to the reprehensible conduct of ICE staff. What followed a week later, however, would supplement the overt message and perhaps even outshine it in the eyes of the public. Bad Bunny's Halftime Show was not so much a protest, but rather a celebration culminating in a parade of flags of all countries in the Americas, including his homeland of Puerto Rico. There is an apparent duality in the way political subjects were approached in this case. It consisted of both an overt, direct element referencing current events, and a more suggestive, artistic one promoting unity and togetherness.


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Björk in Shanghai

Bjork. “Pinterest.” Pinterest, 2026, pin.it/5Sew5MF7UAccessed 15 Mar. 2026.
Bjork. “Pinterest.” Pinterest, 2026, pin.it/5Sew5MF7UAccessed 15 Mar. 2026.

If we turn our attention 22 years to the past, we will see another artist gracing the stage of a sporting sensation. In 2004, the Icelandic singer and pioneer of experimental music Björk performed at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in Athens. This particular performance didn't hold much political significance, but it included themes of unity similar to the most recent halftime. A performance of hers which had a clear and undeniable political impact would occur 4 years later in Shanghai during the tour for the album “Volta”. The album itself contains some of Björk's most overtly political lyricism, and one song in particular would go on to define her activism in the late 2000s. “Declare Independence”, as the title may suggest, promotes gaining national sovereignty by colonised or minority groups. As the artist's country of Iceland used to be one of many constituent islands of Denmark, the song was, upon its inception, dedicated to the people of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, which currently find themselves in a similar situation to that of Iceland before its independence. Over the years Bjork has dedicated the song to a few different independence movements, including that of Kosovo, which led to a cancellation of her concert in Serbia. The performance which gained the most publicity took place on the 2nd of March, 2008, in Shanghai. After a show full of abrasive synths and aggressive vocals, Björk concluded the performance with a haunting chant of “Tibet, Tibet…” clearly advocating for its independence from the People’s Republic of China. She had triggered a media storm in China - the Ministry of Culture denounced her performance, outraged fans took to online forums to voice their dissatisfaction, and Björk was to be banned from performing in the country should the behaviour be repeated. The whole affair culminated in an official statement from the government stating that artists who “threaten national unity” would be denied entry. The numerous controversies surrounding “Declare Independence” definitely seem like an impressive punk comeback to Björk's time in Kukl and The Sugarcubes, but they also raise several questions about the reasonable limits of an artist's activism. Should one reserve the right to make loud public statements about independent movements, they may not have the appropriate cultural capital to understand? This issue is complex, and, so as not to let my love of Bjork cloud my judgment, I shall only briefly state a possible interpretation. Noble intentions behind political statements made by artists are definitely admirable. Nevertheless, they should make the effort to educate themselves on the given issues to avoid taking misguided actions.

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Edward Dwurnik and his PRL Chronicles

The inclusion of this artist alongside the previous two may seem strange. His medium of art is not music, but drawing and painting, and his style of political involvement is altogether different from the examples discussed thus far. Nevertheless, Edward Dwurnik should be included in discussions of artists engaging in politics as he is generally quite underappreciated and works on his topic  are insufficient in both number and substance. Dwurnik was active as an artist from the 60s until his death in 2018. His most well-known bodies of work include “Podróże autostopem” and “Sportowcy”. The latter has the more social and political character of the two and displays the everyday lives of citizens in the Polish People's Republic. While not directly criticizing particular figures or the political system, the paintings certainly give the viewer an impression of common struggles during the PRL years. The characters in the paintings are, according to the artist's own description, masters of “shoving their way through life”. They are ordinary office workers, patrons of bars and other grotesque forms. The series likely serves best not necessarily as an overt statement or political critique, but as a deeply subliminal chronicle of the socio-political reality of the times. The aspect of Dwurnik’s work that is, in fact, overtly political lies in his series “Robotnicy”. This cycle took on a much darker tone than previous works of his and prominently featured themes of hopelessness, violence, and the struggle of citizens against the state. In spite of the overwhelming presence of these themes, I believe that a large portion of Dwurnik's art has aged as well as it has because he was able to capture not specific events, but the general mood of his time. He was a master chronicler of the attitudes of the Polish People's Republic.

Paczaizm.pl. “Władza Dba O Ludzi Napis W Sklepie PRL Komuna.” Paczaizm.pl, 8 Feb. 2022, paczaizm.pl/wladza-dba-o-ludzi-napis-w-sklepie-prl-komuna/. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.
Paczaizm.pl. “Władza Dba O Ludzi Napis W Sklepie PRL Komuna.” Paczaizm.pl, 8 Feb. 2022, paczaizm.pl/wladza-dba-o-ludzi-napis-w-sklepie-prl-komuna/. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.

Conclusion

A few different instances of artists taking a political stance have now been covered. The stances differ vastly among themselves in terms of their subject matter, the type or genre of art, as well as the way they are delivered. The staunch anti-ICE speech and celebratory halftime show of Bad Bunny, Björk's advocacy for independence movements, and Dwurnik's chronicles of a bygone political era appear to be mostly unrelated and disjointed. However, they may be representative of the two main distinct kinds of political activism practised by artists. The Grammys speech and Björk's Shanghai performance are examples of artists using their platform to direct the public's attention to a specific, localised issue - the inhumane treatment of immigrants and Tibet's independence in these two cases. Yet there also exists another, more subtle and suggestive form of activism, which can be seen in the halftime show and in some of Dwurnik's series. This form relies on creating a sense of community in a given social group - South and Latin Americans or Poles. Both types play a significant role in artists’ political messaging, but it's hard to ignore that one of them should take precedence. Activism based purely on positive slogans of togetherness rarely works on its own. It should be supplemented by a concrete and pragmatic worldview. That is why I consider Bad Bunny's recent statements a masterclass in artists’ activism. He simultaneously assumes a firm stance on pertinent issues while spreading the message that “The only thing more powerful than hate is love”, which anyone can get behind.

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