Status symbols: identity and belief on modern badges
22 July 2004 – 16 January 2005
Room 69a
Exhibition closed
An exploration of the symbolic power of badges and other similar
objects to express identity and belonging, belief and dissent.
Status Symbols includes objects from around the world
and from all periods, ranging from the mass-produced to the
individually-crafted; the official to the subversive; the familiar
to the strange. All are powerful statements of the diverse ways
people define themselves and others.
As well as examining attitudes to individual and group identity,
the exhibition explores the origin, use and subversion of symbols,
and shows how badges can create dialogues between conflicting
views.
Image: A badge of the Anti-Apartheid
Movement