Gear Up! Protest Toolkit

workshop | 90mil, Berlin | 2025

Born from the urgent need to support the Palestine solidarity movement amidst intensifying repression in Germany post-October 2023, 'Gear Up!' transforms textile work into a tool for activism and mutual aid. Through collective sewing workshops, participants co-create protest vests and kits, with a focus on physical and mental well-being during political actions. Distributed alongside practical zines on international protest tactics, these textile artifacts are designed to be worn and activated. The workshop space invites a tactile engagement, turning the preparation for demonstration into a moment of care and solidarity. By materially and symbolically 'gearing up' together, participants reimagine resistance not as a solitary burden, but as a woven network of support.

'Gear Up!' is a collaboration between Miriam Poletti, abstraqt and Jona Wolf, supported by Amnesty International and Art Rights Truth - Centre for Applied Human Rights and the History of Art Department at the University of York. The project continues to grow through ongoing dialogue with activists, lawyers and journalists.