The Politics of Silence: Artistic Resistance in Oppressive Regimes through Visual and Poetic Forms

This research examines how artists under oppressive regimes weaponize aesthetic silence and coded expression to subvert state control. Analyzing visual and poetic practices across Pakistan, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, and diasporic communities, we identify how strategic ambiguity, cultural reclamation, and embodied resistance transform enforced silence into potent political speech. Findings reveal that 72% of documented resistance artworks since 2010 employ deliberately ambiguous forms to evade censorship while conveying subversive messages (Santos 2023). These practices constitute what Palestinian poet Najwan Darwish terms “resonant quietude”—silences that amplify dissent through their cultural reverberation rather than decibel level.