Patriotism
CUBA - July 26 - 1968, 1968
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL. Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. From the 1960s, painter Raúl Martinez started working as a graphic designer, drawn to the social impact of posters and magazines. He was known for his portraits of well-known revolutionary icons, but to commemorate the 26th of July Movement he portrayed an anonymous Cuban patriot.
SAIGON - INTERNATIONAL WEEK OF SOLIDARITY WITH VIET-NAM (March 13-19), 1970
Between the 1960s and 1990s, more than fifty designers worked at OSPAAAL. Based in Cuba, they made magazines and posters that were sent around the world. Their aim was to promote radical political ideas. Many of their posters celebrate socialist revolutions and liberation movements from the Global South. This poster was made during the war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam, allied with the U.S.A. (known as the ‘Vietnam War’ and ‘War Against the Americans to Save the Nation’). René Mederos’ design repeats the word ‘Saigon’ (now Ho Chi Minh City). Behind the letters, the flag of the U.S.A. transitions into the flag of the group known as the ‘Việt Cộng’.
