Catalogue Number
NMLH.2023.77.9
Object Name
Poster
Title
We are here because you were there...
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 is the ninth poster in the series; it is pink with black text and black and white photographs. Text at the top reads "WE ARE HERE BECAUSE YOU WERE THERE" Photographs underneath the text are labelled as such "WEST INDIES: Governor of Barbados, 1700s / INDIA: British plantation owner with Indian workers, 1800's / IRELAND: British troops evicting Irish peasants, 1870's / AFRICA: British colonial settler in Zimbabwe / MALAYA: British troops 1950's" Furhter text on the poster reads "DURING 400 YEARS BRITAIN HAD TAKEN OVER MANY COUNTRIES AND GAINED A HUGE EMPIRE. IT USED THE PEOPLE OF THESE COUNTRIES AS LOW PAID WORKERS. IT LEFT WITH POVERTY ANDUNEMPLOYMENT WHICH ARE STILL THERE TODAY. THIS IS WHY IT WAS EASY FOR THE BOSSES AND POLITICIANS TO GET WORKERS FROM THESE COUNTRIES AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR WHEN THERE WAS A SHORTAGE OF LABOUR." A speech bubble coming from a photograph of a migrant worker reads "People should check up on history when they say that we are living off the system
here in Britain. For 400 years our work has added to the wealth of this countr. We've all been too busy working to see who has been making the wealth and who has been taking it." A large banner held by a crowd at the bottom of the poster reads "WITHOUT US THERE IS NO BRITAIN". 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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