With radical views fighting their way into our algorithms and screens, many people have never before experienced the chaotic and often puzzling state of today's social and political climate. Left with a sense of hopelessness, it may be that now, more than ever, we need to look back. The desire to resist imposed ideals and morally bankrupt legislation has been a part of a continued thread throughout history. And this could be no more obvious than when experiencing Modern Two’s Resistance exhibition.

Curated by artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen, this collection brings together the work of photographers who documented life before the digital age and reveals acts of collective organisation against oppressive forces. Paired with audio clips from people involved, these detailed black and white images show the faces of the suffragettes and miners during hunger strikes, Gay Liberation Front activist ‘kiss-ins’, the Black People’s Day Of Action, disability rights groups demanding to be portrayed as equals, and even the Free Party movement rejecting commercialised club culture. 

And it is worthwhile taking a trip into the Gabrielle Keiller Library, tucked away on the ground floor, to discover pamphlets published underground in secrecy during the Second World War. People from every type of background are pictured coming together and changing the course of British history. The overarching message is a powerful and clear expression of what collective community can do. Wherever your political alliances lie, this is a significant exhibition for anyone who believes in the right to be heard. 

Resistance, National Galleries Scotland: Modern Two, until Sunday 4 January; main picture: Andrew Testa.