A library display Curated by John Latour, Christine Walde & Léa Boisvert-Chénier
May 2026
As part of the 54th annual ARLIS/NA conference (May 2-8, 2026) members were invited to reflect on the theme of resistance and to provide small-format publications to illustrate that the power of resistance does not lie solely in grand gestures, but can be expressed more humbly without losing any of its potentiality. At its core, resistance has a political connotation that can be found in some of the publications in the display case, but the mode of its interpretation can also manifest itself in many different forms. From material resistance to poetic resistance, or through a reflection on the roles we occupy professionally and personally, resistance can also be expressed through the use of a certain opacity. Perhaps the generative potential of resistance lies in the ambiguity of its definition, allowing us to identify and occupy its unruly, playful, and radical spirit in the public and private sphere and to let it inspire us.