Catalogue Number
NMLH.2023.60
Object Name
Poster
Title
Occupation forces Belfast
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 black and white poster featuring an image of occupied Belfast, the photograph was taken in the Short Strand area of Belfast. A British Army helicopter can be seen flying low over the rooftops. The billboard contains an advertisement for the Halifax which is a British building society. At
that time few people living in this part of Belfast would have been able to avail of its services. Text in the upper right hand corner reads "Nobody throws their life or their liberty away lightly, but this is a very sick society and it's under these conditions that people have rebelled. Things will never change until England pulls out lock stock and barrel. Yet, as Connolly said way back, it's not just a question of removing the army and changing flags. It's deeper than that. It's not just the obvious things that make us rebel, it's something more total. We've had enough of the brutality of the whole thing." This is an extract from an interview with a resident of Belfast.
