The Anarchist Feminist Poster Collective
The Anarchist Feminist Poster Collective (AFPC)-a collection of anarchists, feminists, separatists and budding artists-operated in Adelaide throughout the early 1980s.[i] One of their members, Ann Marie Morrissey, explains “We were much more amateur than our Sydney sisters as we were not trained artists but activists with a desire to write on walls!” [ii] Operating in conjunction with local women’s organisations the collective made posters advertising marches, women’s peace actions and dances; they voiced their opinions on the environment, sexual harassment and nuclear mining, combining bold text with simple illustrations.
“It was an amazing time. Change was happening and we felt we were part of it. We often had lengthy discussions about ownership of copyright, as the screens and ink swished backward and forward . . . Megan [Schlunke], Sally [O'Wheel] and I often chewed over the tensions between having what is now called ‘creative commons’ and the fact that women artists’ often remained historically invisible, in which case, it would be a radical act to claim ownership of our work. As a result of these discussions we evolved very collaborative and fair ways of working together.” [iii]
She goes on to describe the way the group operated, with one member being designated as the ‘main designer’ on each project. In liaising with the commissioning organisation and collaborating with fellow AFPC members the resulting work was both an individual and collective effort.[iv] She writes:
“We always knew who 'authored’ each work although we had produced them collectively”.[v]
Alongside their postering the group was present in the activist and cultural landscape: attending rallies, fairs and events with their large anarchist flag and getting around town on environmentally conscious bicycles. It’s also rumoured they stole from the rich-in the form of shoplifting from major retail chains-and gave to the poor, tossing gifts of bricks through porn shop windows.
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