Protest
free all political prisoners - SOLIDARITY WITH THE AFROAMERICAN PEOPLE - AUGUST 18, 1971
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL. Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. They also criticised the foreign policy of the U.S.A. and supported the Black Power movement.
February 4 - Day of Solidarity with ANGOLA, 1972
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL. Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrated socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. This poster commemorates the beginning of the Angolan War of Independence on 4 February 1961.
Content warning: weaponry
SOUTH AFRICA, 1983
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. OSPAAAL opposed the apartheid system that enforced racial segregation in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. Rafael Enríquez Vega’s portrait of an unknown Black man with the words ‘Whites Only’ reflected in his eyes represents the denial of the rights of Black South Africans.
Untitled (Sékou Touré), 1971
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. This design is a portrait of Ahmed Sékou Touré, the first President of Guinea after the country gained independence from French colonial rule. On his chest is an outline of the African continent, with Guinea highlighted and a skull over the Guinea-Bissau, which was under Portuguese colonial rule at the time of the poster’s issue.
Day of Soldarity With The People Of Laos - October 12, 1970
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL. Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. This design encouraged solidarity with Laotian people on the same date as the founding of the nationalist movement Lao Issara (‘Free Laos’) on 12 October 1945.
Content warning: weaponry
FOREIGN DEBT, 1983
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. From 1977 onwards, Rafael Enríquez Vega was creative director at OSPAAAL and a prolific poster designer. In Foreign Debt, he uses a crucifix to accuse the International Monetary Fund of sustaining the U.S. dollar by sacrificing the economies of developing countries.
Content warning: capital punishment, torture
Day of Solidarity with the Afro-American People - August 18, 1969
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. They also criticised the foreign policy of the U.S.A. and supported the Black Power movement.
Content warning: weaponry
AFRICA, 1969
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. Many OSPAAAL designers combined images of Indigenous art and craft with weaponry. Their aim was to argue for the right to self-determination and support liberation movements opposing colonial and imperial powers. However, the designers did not always know the meaning or origin of the iconography they used.
Content warning: weaponry
HIROSHIMA - DAY OF WORLD SOLIDARITY WITH THE STRUGGLE OF THE JAPANESE PEOPLE (August 6), 1972
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. OSPAAAL marked the date of the atomic bombing of the city of Hiroshima by the U.S.A. as a day of solidarity with Japanese citizens.
Untitled, 1969
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. Alfredo Rostgaard’s poster depicts Jesus Christ carrying a rifle on his back. On the reverse of the poster is a quote from Camilo Torres, a Roman Catholic priest and guerrilla who fought with the revolutionary Colombian National Liberation Army. Torres combined his religious faith with Marxist politics and believed that “If Jesus were alive today, he would be a guerrillero”.
Content warning: weaponry
Day of Solidarity with the people of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde - august 3, 1968
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. This poster was designed to mark a day of solidarity with liberation movements in Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau seeking independence from Portuguese colonial rule, on the date of the Pidjiguiti massacre. Many OSPAAAL designers combined images of Indigenous art and craft with contemporary weaponry. Their aim was to argue for the right to self-determination and support liberation movements opposing colonial and imperial powers. However, the designers did not always know the meaning or origin of the iconography they used.
Content warning: weaponry
NAMIBIA WILL WIN!, 1977
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. This poster was made in support of Namibia’s movement for independence from South African rule. OSPAAAL’s designers regularly used adapted photographs from the organisation’s news desk. Photographs were sometimes used out of context, with the same photographs appearing in posters and magazine illustrations to represent different themes. The identity of the child in this poster is not known.
Content warning: weaponry
Untitled, 1969
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. They also criticised the foreign policy of the U.S.A., particularly in relation to Cuva. Alfredo Rostgaard was OSPAAAL’s creative director from 1966 to 1976. His began his career as a caricaturist for socialist children’s comic Mella. For this design, he created a caricature of a United States Special Forces soldier, combined with a shooting target map.
Content warning: weaponry
INTERNATIONAL WEEK OF SOLIDARITY WITH LATIN AMERICA - APRIL 19 TO 25, 1969
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. Many OSPAAAL designers combined images of Indigenous art and craft with contemporary weaponry. Their aim was to argue for the right to self-determination and support liberation movements opposing colonial and imperial powers. However, the designers did not always know the meaning or origin of the iconography they used.
Content warning: weaponry
DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH GUATEMALA - FEBRUARY 6, 1970
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South.
Content warning: weaponry
World Solidarity With PUERTO RICO, 1981
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. They also criticised the foreign policy of the U.S.A., often using US icons as part of visual metaphors. This poster advocates for Puerto Rican independence from the U.S.A. The Statue of Liberty represents the U.S.A. Its crumbling hand releases the Puerto Rican flag.
Untitled, 1974
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South.
Black Power - RETALIATION TO CRIME: REVOLUTIONARY VIOLENCE, 1968
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. They also criticised the foreign policy of the U.S.A. and supported the Black Power movement. Alfredo Rostgaard’s poster was inspired by the Black Panther Party logo. Some copies had a message printed on the back: “On the occasion of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination, we have published a poster that is now being circulated all over the world. We are sending you herewith a certain amount of these posters, which may be used in your country for the activities to be carried out in this regard.”
week of world solidarity with the peoples of asia - september 30/october 6, 1967
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South.
WORLD SOLIDARITY WITH THE CUBAN REVOLUTION, 1980
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL. Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. Víctor Manuel Navarrete’s design uses an image of ‘Uncle Sam’ from a 1917 US army recruitment poster. In the U.S.A., Uncle Sam was a widely used character representing the government and national pride. OSPAAAL’s designers often distorted images of Uncle Sam to criticise or mock the U.S.A.
World Solidarity With CUBA, 1980
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. They also criticised the foreign policy of the U.S.A. In this design, the Cuban flag represents the Cuban revolution repelling the U.S. military, represented by the hand of fictional character Uncle Sam.
Content warning: weaponry
NO TO THE GUANTANAMO NAVAL BASE!, 1993
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL. Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. In this design, Gladys Acosta Ávila uses an eagle to represent the U.S.A. Its talons are hovering over the south of Cuba where the U.S. military’s Guantanamo Bay Naval Base was established in 1903.
Untitled, 1971
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. Olivio Martínez Viera’s design represents the U.S.A. as a monstrous organism extracting resources from Africa for financial gain.
SOLIDARITY WITH THE AFRICAN AMERICAN PEOPLE - AUGUST 18, 1968, 1968
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL. Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. They were also connected to the Black Panther Party, a political organisation based in Oakland, California. Designer Emory Douglas was “glad to see” his illustrations for the Black Panther Party’s newspaper repurposed by OSPAAAL. Douglas’ image reflects the party’s line on carrying arms: “we believe we can end police brutality... by organising black self-defence groups that are dedicated to defending our black community from racist police oppression and brutality.”
Content warning: weaponry
CAPITALISM: DENIAL OF HUMAN RIGHTS, 1977
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. From 1977 onwards, Rafael Enríquez Vega was creative director at OSPAAAL and a prolific poster designer. For this design he used Leonardo da Vinci’s illustration of the Vitruvian Man, adding chains to represent the idea that capitalism enslaves people.
CREATE TWO, THREE...MANY VIET-NAMS, THAT IS THE WATCHWORD, 1967
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. The first edition of OSPAAAL’s Tricontinental magazine was a special supplement dedicated to Che Guevara’s Message to the Tricontinental. His manifesto presented Vietnamese Communists opposing U.S. military forces in Vietnam as a model for patriotic resistance. It contained the only poster of the guerrilla leader made during his lifetime – Guevara was killed in Bolivia six months after its issue. OSPAAAL’s designers often used repetition of photographic as a way to create bold illustrations with limited resources. The studio’s first art director Alfredo Rostgaard said that “from the need to solve our material problems, we began to discover new forms”
INTERNATIONAL WEEK OF SOLIDARITY WITH LATIN AMERICA (APRIL 19 TO 25), 1970
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South.
Content warning: weaponry
ANGELA DAVIS, 1970
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. This poster was designed in support of North American activist and academic Angela Davis. She was arrested in New York City in 1970, accused of supplying arms that were used in a kidnap and murder. She protested her innocence and there was widespread protest at her incarceration. Davis was cleared of all charges in 1972.
NELSON MANDELA - symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle, 1989
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL. Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. This poster was issued to show support for anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela while he was imprisoned in South Africa. Through his prison window is the flag of the African National Congress; its three colours represent the people, land and resources of South Africa.
DISAPPEARANCE OF BEN BARKA - October 29, 1971
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. Moroccan politician Mehdi Ben Barka led the preparation of the Tricontinental conference, but was assassinated before it began. Antonio Fernández Mariño represented his mysterious disappearance using photomontage to create a fading, ghostlike portrait.
GUINEA - Day of World Solidarity with the Struggle of the People of so-called Portuguese Guinea and Cape Verde (August 3), 1970
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. This poster was designed to mark a day of solidarity with liberation movements in Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau seeking independence from Portuguese colonial rule, on the date of the Pidjiguiti massacre.
Content warning: weaponry
Day of Solidarity with Guatemala - february 6, 1968
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL. Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. This poster was issued in support of leftist rebels fighting against the Guatemalan government during the Guatemalan Civil War. It shows a Mayan god holding an assault rifle. Many OSPAAAL designers combined images of Indigenous art and craft with weaponry. Their aim was to argue for the right to self-determination and support liberation movements opposing oppressive powers. However, the designers did not always know the meaning or origin of the iconography they used.
Content warning: weaponry
DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF PUERTO RICO (SEPTEMBER 23), 1969
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. In this design, a three-point cemí figure breathes fire in defiance of the U.S. corporations operating in Puerto Rico. For the Indigenous Taíno people of the Caribbean, a cemí is a representation of a deity, and at the same time a living being with its own vital force. Many OSPAAAL designers used Indigenous imagery to argue for the right to self-determination and support liberation movements opposing oppressive powers. However, the designers did not always know the full meaning or origin of the iconography they used.
TRICONTINENTAL CONFERENCE - 3rd ANNIVERSARY, 1969
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. OSPAAAL was established after the Tricontinental conference held in Havana in 1966. Representatives from 82 governments and national liberation movements discussed their positions on politics, economics, development and culture. Fidel Castro summarised their unifying aim as “the struggle against colonialism, racism and imperialism.” This commemorative poster uses three characters to represent Africa, Asia and Latin America as united by a common purpose.
Content warning: weaponry
Untitled, 1969
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL. Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. Alfredo Rostgaard was OSPAAAL’s creative director from 1966 to 1976. His began his career as a caricaturist for socialist children’s comic Mella. Rostgaard’s vampire-like US Air Force soldier is being driven like a machine. His design was used by OSPAAAL to criticise US military action.
Content warning: weaponry
DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE JAPANESE PEOPLE (AUGUST 6), 1968
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. OSPAAAL marked the date of the atomic bombing of the city of Hiroshima by the U.S.A. as a day of solidarity with Japanese citizens. The design appears to incorporate a photograph of Raijin, a Japanese god of thunder, lightning and storms.
democracy representative, 1968
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. Alfredo Rostgaard was OSPAAAL’s creative director from 1966 to 1976. His began his career as a caricaturist for socialist children’s comic Mella. For this poster, he created two linked characters representing a democratic politician and a military dictator.
HIROSHIMA - SOLIDARITY WITH THE JAPANESE PEOPLE, 1972
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL (the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America). Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. OSPAAAL marked the date of the atomic bombing of the city of Hiroshima by the U.S.A. as a day of solidarity with Japanese citizens. By collaging fragments of a photograph and burned paper, Daniel García stressed the horrific consequences of deploying nuclear weapons. OSPAAAL’s designers regularly used adapted photographs from the organisation’s news desk. Photographs were sometimes used out of context, with the same photographs appearing in posters and magazine illustrations to represent different themes. The identity of the person in this photograph is not recorded.
Content warning: Injury, burns
