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Uncovering an archive of working-class art
Unison Cymru regional secretary JESS TURNER introduces a new exhibition of political posters in Cardiff selected from the Red Shoes Poster Archive, a vast collection stretching back decades
Unison Cymru regional secretary Jess Turner and poster archivist Shaun Featherstone
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“PEOPLE don’t read boring posters, and they are never remembered. They need to be eye-catching to draw you in.”
I couldn’t agree more with the words of Unison Cymru activist Terry Evans, who, as chair of our Communications Forum, helped to drive our new temporary exhibition in our Cardiff office. We’ve collaborated with Red Shoes Poster Archive curator Shaun Featherstone.
An inspiring, colourful display of more than 100 radical posters now greets new Unison activists coming for their steward training as they take their first steps within the movement.
Like with our permanent exhibition in Cardiff, Unison and the Welsh Labour Movement, we want people to come away fizzing with ideas about what is possible and how working-class people can bond together to win change.
We want to show a new generation of workers the value of solidarity, and we want to bring his 1,700-strong collection to a wider audience. More about that later.
Unison selected posters from the archive to reflect our membership, so there are plenty of posters on feminism and reproductive rights, on equalities, as well as posters for Gaza and peace.
Featherstone describes his archive and his displays as working-class art. “This is our art, and we are proud of it. There aren’t many moments in the labour movement or as an activist where you get the opportunity to stand back and reflect and celebrate past campaigns and battles won or the progress made for social justice. This temporary exhibition allows us time to do just that, and it is wonderful.”
Evans adds: “Two of the main functions of a union are campaigning and organising, so you need to make sure people hear your message, communications are key. Posters are a great way to advertise your rally in the town centre or your AGM. Shaun has a line, ‘Ever had a meeting and no-one turned up? Yes? What was your poster like?’ None of the posters in our display are boring.
“This exhibition is a historical record and an inspiration for activists considering designing posters in future. Creating striking graphics is just as important for social media, too.
“I’ve been interested in politics all my adult life, brought out musically with the Clash, Billy Bragg and Rock Against Racism. I first became aware of Shaun Featherstone 15 years ago at a Cardiff event focused on campaigning in artistic ways. He’s exhibited at Newport Rising and TUC Cymru Congress. His posters demand to be seen by a wider audience.
“This exhibition triggers plenty of memories. There’s a poster for the 1994 Anti-Nazi League carnival, where tens of thousands gathered in London, and I organised seven buses from Blackwood and Newport. Or the anti-poll tax rallies — I was up in court for non-payment.
“Unison has also made sure there are current posters here, too, for Black Lives Matter and climate change. The contemporary art of posters is alive and kicking.”
Our exhibition is just a small sample of Featherstone’s entire collection, but we are enthusiastic supporters of the Red Shoes Poster Archive.
Featherstone explains: “I see the archive now and as it evolves in the future as a movement resource, to be used and interacted with. I’m a trade unionist, and the archive’s natural home is within the trade union and labour movement.
“What I would love to promote and encourage is for you to think about when you next need to design or commission a poster: whether you could work with an artist or an illustrator to design something unique and attractive.
“And then, in the future, your posters could well be in a display just like this, adding and contributing to our rich history of working-class poster art and culture.
“If you like that idea and don’t know where to start, please contact me, and I can put you in touch with a wide and very diverse range of Welsh artists and creative activists who would love to work with you. And if you have any posters, please consider donating them to the collection.”
I want to finish with a plea from Unison Cymru for you to support the Red Shoes Poster Archive. If we don’t celebrate and preserve and cultivate our history and records, then no-one will.
Follow Shaun Featherstone on social media at linktr.ee/redshoesposters.
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