 Margaret Thatcher’s government in Britain and Ronald Reagan’s administration in the US were seen to be engaged together on a course of nuclear destruction, and people in Britain took to the streets in protest. The photo-montaged graphics of Peter Kennard reflected the spirit of the time, and became a hallmark of CND and other demonstrations. In the summer of 1981 a group of women marched from Wales to the US air base at Greenham Common. Outside the gates of the base they set up the Women’s Peace Camp, and maintained a presence there for over a decade. High profile actions were held and the Greenham Women produced constant visual displays of protest. They scribbled in the road, wove webs in the hedges and bushes, and decorated the base’s perimeter fence with banners, dolls, and other items. Greenham inspired books, songs, many art tributes and a revival of banner-making, plus the creation of other peace camps in Britain and beyond. Resistance to a British role in wars and conflicts has persisted over the years through the visual statements of individual artists, small studios and presses: from Vietnam, to the Falklands, the Gulf, Northern Ireland, and the recent war in Afghanistan. Some of the statements have remained the anonymous, ephemeral products of meetings and marches. Others have acquired an international following such as South Atlantic Souvenirs, a postcard series created by Rick Walker and Steve Hardstaff in the early 1980s which targeted the Falklands War. "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland – involving the long-standing Republican struggle against the British/Loyalists for representation, or a united Ireland – have largely involved conflict at street level, in local communities. Visual propaganda generated by both sides of the conflict has consequently taken the form of street art and graphics such as graffiti; posters and pamphlets; and significantly, painted wall murals. Acting as political tools for each side of the conflict, the murals show their very different relationship with the British state. The Loyalist murals, simplistically speaking, have relied on historical imagery and symbols such as flags and heraldry to preserve the security of British rule; the Republican murals have tended to depict a struggle against imperialism, calling for solidarity with hunger strikers, or memorialising military actions and people. |
