Trick or Tweet: ArtActivistBarbie as Trickster

Abstract

This article introduces ‘ArtActivistBarbie’, a modern day Trickster who draws upon the Trickster archetype and traditions found in folklore and myth. This involves the provocative staging of Barbie dolls in national art museums and galleries as ‘ArtActivistBarbie’, a fearless feminist activist. Thousands follow ArtActivistBarbie on Twitter, enjoying her performative work in what she describes as ‘Patriarchal Palaces of Painting’, and which is often served with a dash of wit. Her subversive, playful disruption and creative interventions asks questions and raises issues about gender and the inequalities in many public art collections. There is a need for more contemporary female Tricksters such as ArtActivistBarbie to illuminate and challenge societal injustice.