RED SHOES Poster Archive: Archive-a-thon Party

Select and explore posters from the archive, researching their histories, who made them, where, when and why they were made. By sharing what you learn you’ll be helping the archive to formally catalogue items from its collection and make a valuable contribution to a community resource.

ABOUT THE ARCHIVE

RED SHOES Poster Archive | Archif Bosteri’r ESGIDIAU COCHION is both a physical and digital archive, a mobile art installation and a political education and working-class history project based in south Wales. It’s artist- and trade union-led by volunteers, and collects and preserves posters from across the social justice spectrum. Launched in 2020, the archive now has over 1600 physical posters, ephemera and a growing library of books relating to political poster art, print and graphics.

The collection highlights campaigns and actions from across the progressive and radical left political spectrum eg.peace, anti-capitalist, climate emergency, international solidarity, racial justice, civil rights and feminism. Their primary function is cultural activism; utilising the collection to raise awareness of the cultural and social history of workers through posters. This opens up dialogue, discussion and appreciation of the role and value of posters as activist tools within the context of social and political change.

RED SHOES refers to the colour most associated with mass worker-led movements, and the notion that we walk in the footsteps of those before us, continuing the struggle to win a more fair, equitable and sustainable world. The archive is unique to Wales and the only collection in the UK solely dedicated to collecting and preserving social justice posters.