This is the first comprehensive collection of murals focused on modern slavery and human trafficking. It brings together anti-slavery murals from across the world and demonstrates the emergence of an anti-slavery mural movement from the early 2000s to today. The collection depicts modern slavery in general, alongside more specific types, including forced sexual exploitation and forced labour. It demonstrates the power of art to build community activism and imagine freedom.
Creator: Charlotte James
Project Director: Professor Zoe Trodd
After learning about forced child labour and contemporary slavery, 20 students in their Transition Year at Bray College decided to create a mural to raise awareness of this phenomenon. The students were helped by the CSPE & Religion teacher Elaine Brennan and art teacher Clifton Rooney at…
The Boston Community Leadership Academy (BCLA) aims to develop the capacity for leadership in all students, empowering them to make positive contributions to communities. Students worked with teachers, UNICEF representatives, Art and Resistance Through Education (ARTE) and local mural artists to…
This mural was completed in conjunction with the 6th Annual Welling Court Mural Project to raise awareness of child slavery. It is located on 12th Street between Welling Court and 30th Road in Astoria, Queens, NYC. It tells the story of a 7-year old girl who is enslaved and works in a granite…
This mural was completed as part of the Shoreditch Art Wall and supported the launch of the UK branch of the organisation Child Labour Free. It was revealed on the World Day Against Child Labour on 12th June 2016 alongside the sale of limited edition t-shirts with the designs of the mural. The…
This mural in Buenos Aires was part of a series organised by Red Mundial Juvenil Argentina, Vínculos en Red and Art Emprende. Painted in a small square Plaza la Victoria, the murals depict different kinds of violence, abuse and exploitation that children and teenagers suffer. On 19th…
This mural is one of six created by Delhi Street Art in collaboration with the Jan Sahas Foundation, which works to promote and protect the rights of socially excluded communities. The were completed amid the launch campaign of the Foundation in October 2017. The 70 foot metal facade that covered…
This mural is one of six created by Delhi Street Art in collaboration with the Jan Sahas Foundation, which works to promote and protect the rights of socially excluded communities. The were completed amid the launch campaign of the Foundation in October 2017. The 70 foot metal facade that covered…
This mural is one of six created by Delhi Street Art in collaboration with the Jan Sahas Foundation, which works to promote and protect the rights of socially excluded communities. The were completed amid the launch campaign of the Foundation in October 2017. The 70 foot metal facade that covered…
This mural is one of six created by Delhi Street Art in collaboration with the Jan Sahas Foundation, which works to promote and protect the rights of socially excluded communities. The were completed amid the launch campaign of the Foundation in October 2017. The 70 foot metal facade that covered…
This mural is one of six created by Delhi Street Art in collaboration with the Jan Sahas Foundation, which works to promote and protect the rights of socially excluded communities. The were completed amid the launch campaign of the Foundation in October 2017. The 70 foot metal facade that covered…
This mural is one of six created by Delhi Street Art in collaboration with the Jan Sahas Foundation, which works to promote and protect the rights of socially excluded communities. The were completed amid the launch campaign of the Foundation in October 2017. The 70 foot metal facade that covered…
This Bansky piece was placed on the side of a Poundland store in Wood Green, London in May 2012. It was created by the infamous artist in protest against the use of sweatshops to create Diamond Jubilee and London Olympics memorabilia in 2012. It features a child crouching on the ground, sewing…
In 2012, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) visited different areas of Colombia to educate children and young adults on how to recognise, report and prevent human trafficking. As part of this program, children from various schools and communities created murals to show their…
In 2012, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) visited different areas of Colombia to educate children and young adults on how to recognise, report and prevent human trafficking. As part of this program, children from various schools and communities created murals to show their…
This mural/poster was created in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to raise awareness of human trafficking and the dangers facing many women and girls. The writing reads - 'be vigilant and determined to prevent the trafficking of women and children'. It was placed beside a busy road to ensure the maximum…
In 2016, Joel Artista, several Bengali artists and a group of local teenagers collaborated with the Meridian International Center, the US Consulate and NGO Banglanatak.com to create a mural that highlights the issues facing young people in Kolkata. The young people involved in the project had faced…
The project Luchando Hasta Encontrarlas (Fighting Until We Find Them) was started by a group of mothers of girls from Juarez, Mexico who went missing and are presumed dead. The girls' family members and the police believe that these women were kidnapped and trafficked as prostitutes before being…
This mural was painted by graffiti artist Gamma Acosta on the side of his family's restaurant. He frequently paints murals on this site and this mural on human trafficking is no longer present. Acosta believes that the temporary nature of his murals encourages people to visit them whilst they are…
This piece was part of a series of murals created by Shepard Fairey (Obey Giant) under the installation project of the Irvine Contemporary Art Gallery, with other artists including EVOL and PISA73 from Berlin, Gaia and Oliver Vernon from Brooklyn.It shows a Cambodian child holding a machine gun over…
This mural was created by students in their Transition Year at Presentation College in Bray and condemns the use of child soldiers. The piece is quite graphic, with the centre featuring an image of a dead child lying on the ground with a large wound on his chest. The words 'our greed',…