The Earthworks Poster Collective was an Australian
artist collective
An artist collective or art group or artist group is an initiative that is the result of a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims. The aims of an artist collective can include almost anything t ...
that operated out of the Sydney University Art Workshop, more commonly known as the
Tin Sheds, in the 1970s. The collective, based in
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
,
New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, was active from 1972 to 1979.
History
The collective produced mainly screen-printed, political posters that sought to promote the rights of
Aboriginal people
There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
,
LGBT
LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
people, women, the unemployed and workers,
including the posters for the exhibition ''The D'Oyley Show'' (1979) by the Women's Domestic Needlepoint Group.
It also produced anti-nuclear, protest posters.
Earthworks Poster Collective disbanded in 1979, after failing to attract the funding needed to continue.
Today the Collective is regarded as having been the principal driving force in the early development of Australian political
poster art
A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both typography, textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or w ...
during the 1970s.
Works produced by the collective are held within the collections of The
State Library of New South Wales
The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establis ...
,
National Gallery of Australia
The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...
,
Queensland Art Gallery
The Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) is an art museum located in South Bank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of QAGOMA. It complements the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) building, situated only away.
The Queensland Art Galle ...
, the
Powerhouse Museum
The Powerhouse Museum, formerly known as the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS), is a collection of 4 museums in Sydney, owned by the Government of New South Wales. Powerhouse is a contemporary museum of applied arts and sciences, explori ...
, and the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
.
People
*
Michael Callaghan
*
Jan Mackay
*
Chips Mackinolty
*
Marie McMahon
*
Toni Robertson
See also
*
Australian poster collectives
*
Women's Domestic Needlework Group
References
External links
State Library of New South Wales, First Ten Years of Sydney Women's Liberation Collection Earthworks Poster Collective silkscreen posters, 1974-1980, at the State Library of New South Wales
Australian artist groups and collectives
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