Catalogue Number
NMLH.2022.275
Object Name
Postcard
Date
1981
Description
This postcard shows an animated image of a person in a nuclear hazmat suit. They are pointing to a map with several nuclear energy symbols. The reverse of the postcard says "A scene from 'pretend you'll survive' (1981, 16mm, colour) a 9 minute cartoon film available from Leeds animation workshop."
This activist cartoon from a Yorkshire womenâs collective argues that the Governmentâs public information message on preparation for a nuclear attack is just a pretence. The only way to survive was to protest against such an outcome ever happening. The film also make a connection with the potential for an environmental catastrophe through the use of nuclear power.
The roots of the Leeds Animation Workshop began in 1976 when a group of women came together to make Who Needs Nurseries? - We Do! Over forty years on and they are still going as an all womenâs co-operative, releasing They Call Us Maids: The Domestic Workers' Story in 2015.
There is a Leeds postcard logo. Leeds Postcards was founded in 1979, with the intention of using postcards âas a political tool and agent for changeâ.
They quickly became well-known, producing some iconic work with activist groups such as the Medical Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons (MCANW) and CND branches across the country, and artists including Peter Kennard and Steve Bell. They are still publishing postcards today.
Throughout the 1980s, Leeds Postcards published a number of cards satirising the threat of nuclear war, and celebrating the movement against the bomb,
