The AAWC are an anonymous collective born out of Palestinian liberation movements and a desire to confront Bristol’s arms trade.
In October 2025 we started creating a group show for the M Shed as part of Seeta Patel’s ‘Anatomy of solidarity’ project.
We were one of three collectives exhibiting work alongside Latinas in Bristol and Creative Shift.
The Art Against War Club undertook a 6 month process to create a show that explores Bristol’s history and current complicity in wars and weapons exports. We ask: what does it mean to live in a city that is both a cultural center of arts, activism and community, whilst manufacturing and profiteering from weapons technology and machinery wreaking death and destruction on a global scale.
In the work we directly confront ELBIT SYSTEMS UK LTD the Israeli arms manufacturer who have a site in Filton, Bristol which produces and exports ‘killer drones’ that they have proudly boasted are “battle tested” in Gaza.
Throughout the collective creative process, we maintained great communication with the M Shed, supplying them with everything they requested and the exhibition was signed off at every stage. We submitted written captions and audio descriptions of all works.
On the 9th March we installed the exhibition with the Public Programmes Manager present, who informed us that all pieces had been “flagged and cleared” both verbally and by email with the creative team, and that they were proud to be supporting such “Important work”
The exhibition opened to the public on Tuesday the 10th of March.
On Wednesday 11th, we attended to find the exhibition roped off and the work taken down. A member of staff told us she had been told not to speak to us and that this issue was with the “Bristol City Council’s legal” department.
Art Against War’s part in the Anatomy of Solidarity exhibition is to invite the public into conversations about the role of the arms trade in our everyday lives. The arms trade is involved in Bristol life in ways that we are often not aware of. After a single day of openness to this conversation, Bristol City Council has shut the entire exhibition down. This includes the work of the other collectives.
What could this be other than censorship? What could this be other than fear of letting the people of Bristol into this conversation?