29 September 2010

Red on Black: the Story of the South African Poster Movement

Silkscreened poster issued by the Screen Training Project (STP) Trainees in 1985, archived at SAHA in the SAHA Poster Collection, AL2446_980Using struggle posters largely drawn from the extensive SAHA Poster Collection (AL2446) to demonstrate the artistic, political and organisational value of the South African poster movement, chapters from the SAHA publication Red on Black: the story of the South African Poster Movement can now be downloaded free of charge by registered users of the SAHA website.

Red on black was written by Judy Seidman, a veteran poster maker and the SAHA poster curator at the time of publication, spearheaded the project and published by STE Publishers, with support from Atlantic Philanthropies.

The full-colour publication tells the story of the South African artists and activists who produced over five thousand political posters, most now held in SAHA's collections. Some of the earliest posters in the collections date back to the 1940s, but most were created between 1975 and 2000 as a way of promoting the struggle against Apartheid, showing solidarity with political prisoners, and recording the path taken by millions toward a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic, united and free South Africa.

Download chapters from 'Red on Black: the Story of the South African Poster Movement'.

Learn more about the SAHA Poster Collection.

 

Red on Black: the Story of the South African Poster Movement