CAUSE AND EFFECT: POLITICS AND PROTEST From the Megalo Archives

3 february - 16 march 2024

Megalo Print Studio is proud to present Cause and Effect, an exhibition of posters from the Megalo archives celebrating our history of political and social activism.

Megalo’s initial establishment in 1980 was inspired by the need to provide employment and skills opportunities at a time of unprecedentedly high unemployment in the ACT – delivering workshops and commissions alongside broader community advocacy. This ethos of equity and accessibility has continued throughout Megalo’s subsequent four decades, the bedrock of our ongoing passionate commitment to political campaigning and social justice.

Cause and Effect includes posters that span a wide range of themes and topics, reflecting key issues and movements – local, national and international – of the 1980s and 1990s. They document the growth in awareness of environmental concerns; First Nations recognition and land rights; feminism and gender politics; the fear of nuclear destruction in the final stages of the Cold War, and the emergence of the AIDS crisis.

As collective productions, many of these works are unsigned, undated or unattributed other than crediting Megalo. Frequently they are ephemeral in their intent, designed for easy distribution across Canberra’s streetscapes in response to a one-off occasion or campaign. This immediacy is nevertheless what still lends them their power to move us today, no less than the urgency of their messages.

Indeed, these calls for action resonate just as strongly today – at a time when conflicts rage worldwide, inequality rises, and we grapple with the aftermath of pandemic and the legacies of colonisation and repression. While the channels of communication may have shifted from posters on walls to campaigns on social media, works such as these can still hold lessons, and challenge us – ‘Don’t just stand there, do something’!

Images:
Megalo Screenprint Collective, The writing’s on the wall, 1985, colour screenprint
ACME Ink, Peace Rally, 1984, colour screenprint