Catalogue Number
NMLH.2023.77.10
Object Name
Poster
Title
Today many people are learning their real history for the first time...
Place
Zimbabwe
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 poster is part of a set, "Whose World is the World?", comprising of twelve that were created for schools. The set depicts a different view of history and puts forward ways of understanding the basis for the development of Western economic power over the last 400 years. It was produced in
1979.
This poster is the tenth in the set; it is yellow with green text and a green outline of the african continent with Zimbabwe highlighted in black. The poster aso features photographs of the ancient wall of Zimbabwe, a diamond mine in South Africa, Black workers carrying tobacco in Zimbabwe, and a Zimbabwean freedom fighter. Text on the poster reads "TODAY MANY PEOPLE ARE LEARNING THEIR REAL HISTORY FOR THE FIRST TIME... THEY ARE FINDING OUT THAT THEIR HISTORY BEGAN LONG BEFORE THE EUROPEANS CAME... FINDING OUT HOW THE EUROPEANS CAME TO TAKE THEIR WEALTH... AND THAT THEY SUFFER TODAY BECAUSE OF THIS... THEY ARE LEARNING THAT THINGS CAN BE CHANGED BY FIGHTING. / ZIMBABWE IS THE COUNTRY THAT THE BRITISH NAMED RHODESIA WHEN THEY CONQUERED IT. THE WEALTH OF ZIMBABWE WAS GOING TO SETTLERS AND FOREIGN BUSINESSES. THE PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE FOUGHT AND WON A WAR OF NATIONAL LIBERATION TO TAKE BACK THEIR COUNTRY. NOW THEY ARE STRUGGLING TO TAKE CONTROL OF THEIR WEALTH AND TO DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES
HOW IT SHOULD BE USED." This poster was printed by Gaffyne & Brown Ltd. and says it was "designed by the poster film collective and distributed by the institute of race relations.
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