Rebellious Heritage

Collecting Activism to Capture Debates on Urban Change

Abstract

This article examines a participatory collecting project carried out by the Ghent City Museum STAM between 2022 and 2024. The project focused on contemporary activism and civic engagement in Ghent, Belgium. Working closely with local activist groups and neighbourhood committees, the museum documented protests, campaigns, and acts of civil disobedience related to urban debates, with an emphasis on material and visual expressions.

The project did not aim to collect activism for its own sake. Rather, it sought to explore urban change through the lens of grassroots organisations. It captured how policy decisions are negotiated, contested, and shaped by citizen participation. The resulting collection includes over 600 items, such as banners, posters, props, digital media, and other ‘rebellious objects’. These reflect diverse activist practices and the performative and material dimensions of protest.

By placing these materials alongside policy-driven developments, STAM presents urban transformation as a dynamic, multi-voiced process. The article highlights the urgency of documenting activism in real time, the importance of participatory methods to build trust, and the challenges posed by the ephemeral nature of protest objects and the hybrid character of digital activism. Ultimately, it positions grassroots civic engagement as central to urban change and demonstrates how museums can mediate complex histories of contemporary cities.