Catalogue Number
NMLH.2024.4.2
Object Name
Collage
Place
OK Cafe, Manchester
People
Earth First!
Date
07/1998
Description
The collage is made of photocopies from radical zines and newspapers depicting direct action campaigns that took place between 1994-1998. Direct action protests depicted include: protests against genetically engineered crops, opposing building projects including a crane occupation at the Manchester Metropolitan University, anti-road and anti-airport building protests, and opposition to the Criminal Justice Act which criminalised protest on private property as aggravated trespass.
The collage was made by Earth First! activists and was hung in the toilets of the OK Cafe, which was part of a squat in the Lock Keepers Building on Dale Street, Manchester in July 1998.
'Earth First!' is an anarchist environmental activist group that has been active in the UK since 1991, as a branch of a global network that originated in the United States in the 1970s. Earth First is a non-hierarchical organisation which means anyone sharing their beliefs can set up a group using the name - there is no central organising team. Earth First activists have been practicing direct action protesting to oppose activities they feel are responsible for destroying the earth like logging, peat harvesting and road building.
A banner created by Earth First protesting the arrest of activists opposing the construction of the M3 motorway on the Twyford Chalk Downs is also held by PHM [NMLH.2024.4.1].
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