| | | | | |

Legal Support Hotlines:

Armed by Design

Posted by Andy1917

Content:

The recent book Armed by Design @commonnotions reflects on the intersection of graphic design and political solidarity work in revolutionary Cuba through the lens of the production of OSPAAAL, the Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Based in Havana, OSPAAAL produced nearly five hundred posters, magazines (Tricontinental), and books beginning in the late 1960s through 2019. Co-editor Josh MacPhee will discuss this incredible political design experiment, where it came from and what we can learn from it.

Members of Alma de Izote—a collective in solidarity with Salvadoran popular movements in opposition to Bukele’s authoritarian regime—will discuss the role of political posters and agit prop during the Salvadoran civil war, international solidarity networks forged through las artes gráficas, and current efforts at preserving oral history and historic memory through publishing as a means of uplifting the struggle.

Translation will be available.

On display will be a selection of OSPAAAL posters produced in solidarity with El Salvador, as well as a large installation of Josh MacPhee’s political risograph posters, which will be available for purchase.

***

El reciente libro El Diseño a las Armas (Common Notions Press) reflexiona sobre la intersección entre el diseño gráfico y la solidaridad política en la Cuba revolucionaria a través de la lente de la OSPAAAL: la Organización de Solidaridad de los Pueblos de África, Asia y América Latina. OSPAAAL produjo cerca de quinientos carteles, revistas (Tricontinental) y libros a partir de finales de la década de 1960. El coeditor Josh MacPhee hablará sobre este increíble experimento de diseño político: sus orígenes y las lecciones que podemos extraer de él.

Alma de Izote —un colectivo solidario con los movimientos populares salvadoreños que se oponen al régimen autoritario de Bukele— abordarán el papel de los carteles políticos y la propaganda de agitación durante la guerra civil salvadoreña, las redes de solidaridad internacional forjadas a través de las artes gráficas, y los esfuerzos actuales por preservar la historia oral y la memoria histórica mediante la labor...

Date/Time:

June 16, 2026, 7 p.m. - June 16, 2026, 9 p.m.

Location:

Pilsen Community Books, 1531 W. 18th St, Chicago

Sponsoring Organization:

Link(s):

Share: