Camarades ouvriers ! 1968

Original French political poster entitled Camarades ouvriers! (“Fellow Workers!”), produced in 1968 by the Atelier Populaire at the occupied École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

Printed by screen printing in a single dark burgundy-red ink on lightweight paper, the poster relies entirely upon forceful, irregular capital lettering. Its dense typographic composition gives the appearance of a public declaration or urgent manifesto, reflecting the direct and economical visual language developed by the Atelier Populaire during the demonstrations, strikes and factory occupations of May 1968.

The text translates as:

“Fellow workers! Against provocations by employers and police, against defeatism and capitulation, for the fulfilment of all our demands, let us join our battle station against capital: the occupied factory! Let us organise self-defence! We shall win!”

The message calls upon workers to maintain their solidarity, defend occupied factories and resist pressure from employers, the police and those advocating compromise. Its references to factory occupation and “capitulation” place it within the most confrontational phase of the workers’ struggle.

The Atelier Populaire operated collectively: proposed designs and slogans were discussed and approved by its general assembly, then printed anonymously for distribution in the streets and occupied workplaces. Individual authorship was deliberately rejected in favour of collective political action. The sheet bears the Atelier des Beaux-Arts stamp, an especially significant period feature connecting it to this historic workshop.

Created as an immediate instrument of protest rather than a conventional decorative print, Camarades ouvriers! is a powerful surviving document of May 1968 and an important example of twentieth-century French political and graphic design. Its uncompromising message, handmade typography and ephemeral production make original examples particularly compelling to collectors of protest art, social history and post-war European design.

Original Poster

Politics - May 1968 - France

Let's organize self-defense! We will win! Fine Arts Workshop stamp

Good condition, tears