Catalogue Number
NMLH.2023.69.4
Object Name
Poster
Title
Industrialism
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, 'Future Fictions', produced when the collective moved to the North London Polytechnic is a set of posters reflecting on technological development and leads us to address environmental issues of today. This is the fourth poster in the series; it is white with black and
light blue text/illustrations. The title reads "Industrialism" in blue whilst black text at the side reads "the transition from the water mill to the steam engine / FACTORY PRODUCTION, MECHANIZATION OF AGRICULTURE, CREATION OF LARGE URBAN CENTRES, SLAVERY AND COLONIALISM" The illustrations featured are of industrial equipment and buidings towering over workers. Three illustrations at the bottom show workers inside factories. Text reads: "By measuring steam and putting it to work more exactly, James Watt powered the cotton looms in Lancashire in the 18thC that inaugurated the Industrial Revolution. Sixty years later steam was adapted in moving engines by James Stevenson. With the development of the railways between 1830-5 the output of iron and coal trebled laying the foundation for a more rapid and large scale from of industrialism. The hirst for raw materials, led industrial nations to embark upon massive programs of colonial expansions and plantation slavery. Great Britain became
known as the 'workshop of the world' and controlled as much as a quarter of the territory of the world at this stage.
