Catalogue Number
NMLH.2023.19
Object Name
Poster
Title
The emancipation of the workers must be an act of the working class itself.
People
Lenin
Events
General strike
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 with red text reading "THE EMANCIPATION OF THE WORKERS MUST BE AN ACT OF THE WORKING CLASS ITSELF". A large photograph shows two workers standing on a picket line whilst a photograph in the corner shows railway workers at Crewe during the 1926 general strike. A
quote from Lenin's 'On strike' in red text lies next to the images: "âAll wheels stand still, if your mighty arm wills it,â a German workersâ song says of the working class. And so it is in reality: the factories, the landlordsâ land, the machines, the railways, etc., etc., are all like wheels in a giant machineâthe machine that extracts various products, processes them, and delivers them to their destination. The whole of this machine is set in motion by the worker who tills the soil, extracts ores, makes commodities in the factories, builds houses, work shops, and railways. When the workers refuse to work, the entire machine threatens to stop. Every strike reminds the capitalists that it is the workers and not they who are the real masters."
