Workers' Control

Workers' Control, Poster Workshop

The Poster Workshop, inspired by the Atelier Populaire in Paris, was active in London from 1968 to 1971. The Workshop worked in a similar way to the Atelier: inviting people to come with poster ideas and helping them to put them into print. Also similar to the Atelier, silk screen printing was the method of choice. Quick and easy to run off relatively large print runs using relatively cheap, easy to make equipment. The approach meant that posters could be made to respond to what was needed when it was needed. 

Unlike the Atelier – which existed during the white heat of May/June 1968, the Workshop lasted beyond its initial establishment and the posters created there covered a wider range of themes and issues – from great international movements such as anti-Apartheid and against American imperialism in Vietnam, national issues such as the Labour Government’s In Place of Strife White Paper and the Troubles in the North of Ireland, to very local issues around housing, rents and slum landlords etc. Many of the posters were created to advertise specific events: marches, demonstrations, public meetings.

We have reproduced a small selection of the posters. You can see more of the posters and learn more about the people behind the workshop in Poster Workshop 1968-1971 by Sam Lord and others, published by Four Corners Irregulars.