Catalogue Number
NMLH.2023.59
Object Name
Poster
Title
Strikes a school of war but not the war itself
Date
1972-1982
Description
The Poster Collective was a collective formed in 1971 at the Slade School of Art,  a group formed to initially produce posters in response to the miners strike and on the wars in both Vietnam and Ireland. It was formed on the basis of developing a coherent visual style, which addressed the political issues of the time. This included the armed struggles against colonialism in Africa, the struggle of women for equal rights and the continuing struggle against racism. The collective was active in the 70's and 80's, producing posters on a wide range of issues, including for educational purposes. The group was not-for-profit and used a variety of hand-printing techniques to create their posters. This is a white poster with a black border and black and red text. In the middle of the poster is a photograph of a march, with workers carrying a trade union banner upon a banner hoist. Text reads: "STRIKES / A SCHOOL OF WAR, BUT NOT THE WAR ITSELF. / A strike teaches workers to understand what
the strength of the employers and what the strength of the workers consists in; it teaches them not to think of their own employer alone and not of their own immediate workmates alone but of all the employers, the whole class of capitalists and the whole class of workers." Text at the bottom features a quote from Lenin: "A strike moreover, opens the eyes o the workers to the nature, not only of the capitalists, but of the government and the laws as well."
