Color Riots: Pigments, Dyes, and the Hues of Resistance

Color Riots: Pigments, Dyes, and the Hues of Resistance

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Luiza Prado de O. Martins (she/they) is an artist and writer whose work spans installation, video, and sculpture, using performance and ritual to invite and activate audiences. Her practice explores anticolonial and more-than-human strategies in the relationships and knowledge systems surrounding food, fertility, infrastructures, and technology, questioning the structures and processes required for collective care. She has exhibited and performed at the Martin-Gropius-Bau, Museum of Modern Art Warsaw, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Savvy Contemporary, Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum, and Museum Ostwall; her work is part of the Art Institute of Chicago's collection. She is based in Berlin.

FORTHCOMING 2026 👀 Curious for a sneak peek into the book? Reach out to us! We regularly offer lectures on the behind-the-scenes process of editing.

ABOUT THIS BOOK

In Color Riots, Luiza Prado uncovers the complex connections between pigments, dyes, and the forces of cultural and political resistance, exploring how the symbolic and material histories of color intersect with struggles for autonomy and decoloniality.

Drawing from her experiences as a student, researcher, artist, educator, and cultural critic moving between Germany and Brazil, Prado reveals how color becomes both a tool of oppression and a form of defiance. Her reflections extend into the realm of plant knowledge, breathing life into the cosmologies of ibirabitanga (Brazilian redwood) and challenging the Western gaze that renders nature silent. 

Color Riots is a critical exploration of pigments and dyes—whether in textiles, art, or food—as carriers of histories marked by violence, creativity, and survival. Prado offers a vivid reimagining of resistance that is both material and deeply rooted in everyday life.

ISBN: 978-989-35859-1-7