{"id":45704,"title":"Introducing The Radical Poster Collective","description":"In May 2022 three of us met at the With Banners Held High trade union event in Wakefield. After going on the march with the trade union banners and brass bands, and looking through the various stalls; we adjourned to The Old Print Works for a pint and a chat. Between us we had decades of experience of radical politics, campaigning, leafletting, demonstrating, confronting fascists, printing and fly-posting \u2013 and we were talking about our common interest in radical posters","content":"

In May 2022 three of us met at the With Banners Held High<\/em> trade union event in Wakefield. After going on the march with the trade union banners and brass bands, and looking through the various stalls; we adjourned to The Old Print Works<\/em> for a pint and a chat.<\/p>

Between us we had decades of experience of radical politics, campaigning, leafletting, demonstrating, confronting fascists, printing and fly-posting \u2013 and we were talking about our common interest in radical posters.<\/p>

\u00a0We decided that we should pull together a collection of radical posters; and we would try re-printing some and see if we could sell any.<\/p>

We agreed that we wanted to be non-profit making; and that any surplus money we did make, we would donate to good causes. Our interest was in developing and curating a collection of good quality radical posters rather than starting a business. We agreed to call ourselves the Radical Poster Collective.\"1vw8kscsn05mjlus5bl21dqlrqmsrcqyirh7xor04ym2adb0.jpg.jpg?w=1140&v=2\"We all lived in different cities so meetings were generally held by Zoom. We all had different ideas about what made a good poster. One member was particularly interested in Walter Crane, and pre-20th<\/sup> century radical politics, one was particularly interested in Spain and the Soviet Union \u2013 bright, colourful and social realist, and one member was particularly interested in contemporary and traditional prints. Between us we brought a wide range of interests that has been complementary.<\/p>

We also agreed to be non-sectarian \u2013 so, for example, although none of us would describe ourselves as Leninists, if we like a poster from the Soviet Union we are happy to include it in our collection.<\/p>

It has been pointed out to us when we have our stalls that we have suffragette posters advocating \u201cVotes for Women\u201d alongside posters exclaiming that \u201cThe Vote Changes Nothing, the Struggle Continues\u201d \u2013 but we love them both equally.<\/p>

Our next step was working out how to re-produce and sell posters \u2013 initially getting 5 copies at a time from a high street copier, when we weren\u2019t confident that we could store or sell higher numbers.<\/p>

We started a website<\/a> to display the posters.<\/p>

We started to have a stall at various radical bookfairs \u2013 mostly in the North of England, where we found the response quite overwhelming at first. We also had to learn how to transport and display the posters, and how to package them when we sell them. Having tried various approaches we settled on having two big ring binder files on the stall for people to flick through.<\/p>

We then decided to sell them on Ebay<\/u><\/a>, and over time we have worked out a safe and efficient way to manage sending the posters in the mail. We now put the posters in a cellophane package, and then put them inside a cardboard tube \u2013 which works really well.<\/p>

\"PosterOne of the first posters we made, which has sold well over the last couple of years, was this version of the Nina Vatolina\u2019s anti-fascist poster. At the time, we decided to translate the text into English but since then while we haven\u2019t translated the text, in some cases we have added an English translation to the poster.<\/p>

\u00a0We liked this poster so much we later used it as the basis for a design that we used to raise money that we donated to the RCN strike fund, during the NHS strikes in 2022 and 2023.<\/p>

\"TheOver time we have developed skills in digitally \u2018fixing\u2019 posters that have tears or stains on them. Our early attempts were sometimes a bit clunky (over digitised, or bleached out). Some didn\u2019t turn out good enough because we just didn\u2019t have the skills to create a poster of a quality that we were happy with.<\/span><\/p>

But we have persevered and one of our finest was recreating this poster from the Spanish Revolution in 1936.<\/span><\/p>

We couldn\u2019t find a version that wasn\u2019t in a really poor condition so we started recreating it from scratch.<\/span><\/p>

\"ImageThere is a paragraph in George Orwell\u2019s Homage to Catalonia that says: \u201cIn the barbers\u2019 shops were Anarchist notices (the barbers were mostly Anarchists) solemnly explaining that barbers were no longer slaves.\u201d We think this poster by Ricard Obiols is probably what Orwell was talking about \u2013 which we have completely recreated from a poor quality original.<\/span><\/p>

Over time we have improved our website, and now include links to information about the artists where we can; and links to other websites that we think are worth having a look at.<\/p>

There\u2019s still more to do though \u2013 none of us are website designers, but we are learning as we go along.<\/p>

We\u2019ve tried designing our own posters \u2013 none of us are artists really but we had a go anyway. This one of Rocky the communist cat (having nicked the slogan from somewhere else) has been quite a good seller, and often prompts conversation with people visiting our stall.<\/p>

\"PictureMore recently we designed a new poster celebrating trade union organiser and songwriter, Joe Hill.<\/span><\/p>

\"CartoonWe are still working to make more good quality radical posters available, and design more of our own.<\/span><\/p>

Visit our website, find us on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky, and if you get chance come and say hello to us at a bookfair or event.<\/span><\/p>

Radical Poster Collective<\/span><\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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