From political graffiti in ancient Rome and Pompeii to the posters made during the May-June events in Paris in 1968, political and propaganda posters have played a significant role in shaping public opinion and mobilising societies throughout history. Such posters have been made and used by governments, political parties, social movements, collectives, and even individual artists to promote ideologies, policies, and leaders, or to criticise authoritarian regimes, institutions, authorities, and opposition. Equal parts creative, political, and playful, protest posters are an important part of our histories — they are the meeting point of art and agitation, poetry and politics.
The posters made during the 1968 Paris Uprising comprise some of the most brilliant graphic works ever to have been associated with a social movement. They were made by a student collective from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts who called themselves 'Atelier Populaire' (The People's Workshop) in May 1968, taking inspiration from the visual culture of the time. Seeking a way to get involved with the workers' protests already underway, the students occupied the lithography studio at the venerable art school, made posters during the day, and distributed them during the night. These posters were typically printed on cheap paper with a single colour, raw lettering, and striking imagery; voiced support for labour strikes; and delivered simple, strong messages against colonialism, consumerism, police brutality, and attacks on the free press.
Like France, India — and South Asia at large — too has a long history of popular uprisings and social movements. And like France, here too students and artists have used graphic posters as a medium to spread political messages and mobilise people during wars, revolutions, elections, and public protests throughout the years. From the 19th century till the 20th century, in the absence of mass media like newspapers, radio, television, and the internet, posters on walls, shop fronts, railway stations, and even lamp posts, posters, pamphlets, and leaflets were the primary medium of mass communication. Especially in countries like India, where a large part of the population still cannot read, posters were a powerful instrument to raise awareness about social issues like civil rights, workers’ rights, gender equality, communalism, environmental issues, domestic violence, and police brutality.
Despite the slow death of print media in the Internet age, however, protest posters haven’t entirely disappeared. They have simply evolved. From the hand-painted posters of the 30s and the lithographed and screen-printed posters of the 50s and 60s, protest posters have taken to the intangible, virtual walls of the internet and transformed into shareable, viral digital artworks. Here are five contemporary South Asian artists who are using the design ethos and visual identity of the historic medium to raise awareness about the prevalent social issues of today:
Siddhesh Gautam, who goes by the moniker Bakery Prasad, is a Delhi based multi-disciplinary mixed-media artist, designer, writer, poet, and an Ambedkarite. His work is meant to challenge preconceptions and evoke feelings of agitation, exploration, and deeper connection with the self. His work has been previously published by The BBC, The Wire, The Hindu, among others. He has also worked with and given lectures and talks at various universities and colleges including Tufts University, New York; Oxford University; SOAS University of London; University of Vienna; and International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague.
Follow Siddhesh Gautam here.
Debashish Chakrabarty is an artist and author from Dhaka, Bangladesh. A photography graduate from the Pathshala South Asian Media Institute, Chakrabarty now lives and works in Michigan, USA. His recent works revolve around power relations and civil imagination. He looks closely at the state mechanism, power, and production relations to reflect on the human conditions. He has been using diverse optical, photographic, and drawing techniques to narrate stories that reflect various degrees of human experiences. His illustrations were widely shared by student protesters during the July 2024 Student Uprising that resulted in the ouster of long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Follow Debashish Chakrabarty here.
Rahee Punyashloka (b. 1993) is a writer, visual artist, and filmmaker based in New Delhi and Bhubaneswar. Working across disciplines, he seeks to illuminate the vastly unrepresented/underrepresented artistic history of the anti-caste struggle and the Dalit identity. He tries to create online interventions around the same under the moniker “artedkar.” His works have been exhibited in numerous venues including International Film Festival Rotterdam; Athens Video Art Festival; Tribeca Film Festival (New York); ARKIPEL (Jakarta); Ishara Art Foundation (Dubai); KHOJ (New Delhi); Museum of Art and Photography (Bangalore); Arts House (Melbourne), among others. He is currently writing his first novel, A Manual for Shapeshifting, under the mentorship of Madhuri Vijay from the South Asia Speaks program.
Follow Rahee Punyashloka here.
Anjali Chandrashekar is a New York based multi-disciplinary artist, with a professional focus on illustration and digital product design. She has been a contributing cartoonist to The New Yorker since 2021. Her work has been recognized by Forbes, the World Economic Forum, and The United Nations. Her visual storytelling spans pluralistic explorations of gender, culture, and identities to amusing observations about the eccentricities of human behaviour.
Follow Anjali Chandrashekar here.
Learn more about the history of Indian poster art here.
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