Mai 68 |

This May marks the 50th anniversary of the Mai 68 riots; a revolutionary string of student protests in Paris. Art was truly embedded in this revolution, with unique screen-printed posters being plastered along the walls of France.

Lazinc Sackville is currently exhibiting in London its own collection of these original posters for all to see. This unique collection of posters was last exhibited at The Hayward Gallery in 2008 and now forms part of Lazinc’s permanent collection of counter culture and propaganda works.

The 50 works are original, screen-printed posters produced during May and June in 1968 and plastered over the walls of Paris. The posters became the visual symbols of the revolution and they depict solidarity between France’s students and workers; opposition to De Gaulle and parliament; and the denouncement of a fascist regime.

One of the largest collections of this nature, the Lazinc Propaganda Collection includes Chinese Maoist posters dating back to early 1900’s, Black Panther posters, Russian Communist Posters from the 1970’s & 80’s, Cuban Revolutionary posters as well as British counter-culture posters from the 1960’s – 1980’s. These iconic works have been cited as the forerunners of today’s street art movement, and have been an inspiration to many of the contemporary artists Lazinc has worked with, including Banksy, Vhils and JR.

In addition films, imagery and memorabilia from the Mai 68 riots help contextualise the artworks in a historic setting, including archival photography, memorabilia and film footage captured during the riots.

The gallery is also recreating a screen-printing room from one of the Atelier Populaire studios, the infamous workshop created in the occupied lithography studios of the École des Beaux-Arts set up by artists and students, .showing the working space in which the posters were created. Screen-printing was used due to the opportunity of mass-production and none of the posters were signed by individual artists.

“I love posters and their inherent power. They have been used as a tool of control or rebellion by everyone from counter-cultural groups to communist regimes, to subjugate billions of people. I still feel that they have their place in today’s society, take something like Shepard Fairey’s HOPE poster for the Obama campaign. A poster that in its own small way helped a black man to be voted as president of the USA, something no-one thought possible. The posters here were made by “Atelier Populaire”…
The whole idea was that anyone and everyone could contribute to the content of the posters, students, fishermen, postmen, factory workers etc. There would be assemblies where the poster choice would be made. These would invairably be printed through the day and night and then pasted up on the night-time, for the city of Paris to see what the issues at hand were. This was a pretty risky business due to the heavy-handed tactics of the French riot squad. This is a classic example of the disposed and dis-enfranchised using the poster to give voice to their concerns. The fact that time has not diminished them or their sentiment is a testimony to their power.” – Steve Lazarides, Co-Founder, Lazinc

The installation is left as if interrupted, posing the question of what the Mai 68 riots achieved and what is their contribution to art and history, the place of art within revolution?