City walls, bathroom stalls and tweeting the Taoiseach: the aesthetics of protest and the campaign for abortion rights in the Republic of Ireland

This paper maps and critically positions a range of creative strategies used by artists, groups and individuals as part of the campaign to broaden legal access to abortion in the Republic of Ireland. Using an art historical methodology involving the description and interpretation of specific creative actions or works, this article surveys a range of protest actions that have taken place beyond the space of the museum, gallery or theatre between 2015 and 2017. These creative actions are described and contextualized within appropriate theories of public art, public protest and the politics of assembly and public space. The creative strategies considered include large-scale spectacles and protests that occupy high-status environments and landscapes, as well as creative actions located in ‘edge-spaces’ and across social media.