Brigade Venceremos - Reboiro 1969

This is a very rare poster designed by Antonio Reboiro in 1969 to promote the Brigade Venceremos in the US. The Brigade Venceremos - "young Americans sharing the life and work of revolutionary Cuba" - was part of the Cuban effort to find sources of labour. Reboiro designed this poster to look like an American hippie poster. He succeeded in capturing the psychedelic style but again this is typically Cuban. This poster was produced in very small numbers to be distributed in the USA. Venceremos means "we will be victorious".

Solidarity with Africa - Forjans 1969

Another African statue by Jesus Forjans for OSPAAAL. This striking image of powerful traditional warrior is set against a background of modern weapons. Another dramatic OSPAAAL poster and typical of the late 1960s as Cuban artists moved away from photography based posters to a vibrant and very confident style.

Solidarity with Zimbabwe - Forjans 1973

This is a great image and a nice mixture of the traditional and the modern. Here Jesus Forjans' african statue is equipped with an AK47, the symbol of revolutionary freedom, set against the OSPAAAL logo. At its best, Cuban poster art uses some of the simplest ideas to create some of the most striking designs. This is economic in its message but very powerful. The statue represents the power and tradition of the Zimbabwean people in the struggle for independence from Great Britain.

Nixon in Vietnam - Mederos 1971

René Mederos has combined playful graphics, photo montage and an element of surrealism to create this sinister, dramatic image of Nixon as a bird of prey ripping the heart out of North Vietnam and Laos. The bird has the look of a Nazi-era eagle.

Go American GI - Rostgaard 1971

Mad pop art stylings from Alfredo Rostgaard make this poster one of my favourites. His crazy use of cartoon graphics and colour bely the seriousness of the message. The monstrous American GI is controlled by the capitalist. 1971 is the mid-point of the Vietnam war and a time when the American war machine was in overdrive. Massive spending and major escalation was becoming less focused and more desperate. I have included detail of the face below. As you can see, this poster has heavy creasing.

El Salvador - Luisvega 1973

The film El Salvador (The Saviour or Le Sauveur) is French, set in 1943 and features a young girl who harbours a foreign solder who she thinks is English. On being captured by the Nazis she discovers that the soldier is actually German. The film plays out the corruption of innocence against a backdrop of World War II. The half tone head and bright halo are nice touches of colour in this otherwise stark black poster.

Primero Dejar de Ser - Mederos 1968

This is a text only poster by artist Rene Mederos. Although stylistically this is very simple it still manages to look good. Translation: Better not to be, than not to be revolutionary.

Mas Revolucion

Mas Revolucion (More Revolution) is a text only poster proclaiming war on a variety of imperialist traits - vice, egoism, exploitation, individualism, etc. Compared to a lot of Cuban posters this is very restrained but it still makes great use of scrapbook style cartoon font - once again a playful and fun style for a serious message.

I don't know the date, the agency that issued this or the artist. I suspect Bachs but similar font style turns up in posters by a number of artists.

OSPAAAL - The Art of Solidarity

OSPAAAL The Art of Solidarity is my research bible. It lists every OSPAAAL poster, many of them in colour, by year and with details of the artists where they are known. The book was published in Italy with help from Dan Walsh and Lincoln Cushing of the Cuba Poster Project and assistance from the Havana National Library and Editora Politica. A vital book, a great reference tool, and a collection of beautiful images. A classic book for Cuban posters.

Alfredo Rostgaard - Wikipedia

I wrote a short bio on Alfredo Rostgaard, a key Cuban poster artist, for Wikipedia. Here's the original text which I'll try to improve once I have more time.

Alfredo Rostgaard is a Cuban graphic designer and artist. He is one of the leading designers of revolutionary Cuban film and political posters through his work for the Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industria Cinematográfico, Organisation for Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America, Casa de las Americas, Comisión de Orientación Revolucionaria and other Cuban agencies. Rostgaard's work has been exhibited worldwide and he has received a number of awards and recognition for his designs. Referencing pop art and psychedelic poster art, Rostgaard's work also includes figurative painting and Warhol-esq commercial graphics. The majority of his designs are playful and fun, a product of the artist's ability to incorporate a sense of humour into sometimes very serious subjects. He is one of the most prolific of the revolutionary designers that contributed to Cuba's massive output of posters during the mid 60s to mid 70s. Born in Guantanamo in 1943 Rostgaard studied at the Jose Joaquin Tejada school of art in Santiago de Cuba. In 1963 he was appointed artistic director of Mella, the magazine of the union of young communists. He also acted as caricaturist for the magazine where he learnt to mix humour and politics. After arriving in Havana in 1965 he began designing posters for the ICAIC and became artistic director of OSPAAAL in 1966 where he resided for nine years. From 1975 he worked for UNIAC, the Union of Cuban Artists. As well as posters he has also designed book and magazine covers and layouts. Rostgaard's work has been widely exhibited and he has won a number of awards for his designs. Rostgaard died in Havana on December 27 2004.

Solidarity with Japan - Menéndez 1969

Here's a great design for OSPAAAL from Guillermo Mendéndez for a poster for the day of solidarity with the Japanese people. It's a busy but stunning design using both photography and an unusual collection of shapes and colours. August 6th is the day of the bombing of Hiroshima. This is a rare Cuban poster.

Illuminacion Intima - Nico 1968

Illuminacion Intima (Intimate Lighting or Intimni Osvetleni) is a classic of the Czech New Wave from 1965 and focuses on life in a small village where music is a preoccupation. Through a number of loosely connected comedy scenes the men of the film neglect their wives due to their obsession with music. This is another confident and colourful silkscreen from Nico.

Golgota - Nico 1968

Golgota is a Romanian film from 1966. And that is all I know about it. Nico's 1968 poster for the ICAIC is great but doesn't give much away about the film.

El Gran Robo del Tren de San Trinian - Bachs 1968

El Gran Robo del Tren de San Trinian (The St Trinians Great Train Robbery) is a 1966 British comedy about the pupils of a girls school who thwart the attempts by the great train robbers to recover the loot from their heist, which happens to be stashed in the girls' school building. Bachs' 1968 ICAIC silkscreen poster is a classic with simple but effective cartoon graphics and his trademark homemade text.


This poster is printed on brown paper rather than the usual white.

1 Mayo - Dimas 1973

This 1973 poster for the ICAIC is unusual in that it is not for a film but for the 1 May celebrations - Labour Day and a celebration of the revolution marked by long speeches, revolutionary songs and a parade in Havana and other Cuban towns and cities. This is a simple and fun poster by little know artist Dimas.


Here's a YouTube clip of the recent 1 May celebrations in Havana:

El Azote de Dios - Bachs 1968

El Azote de Dios (God's Whip or Bicz Bozy) is a 1967 Polish comedy. Regular ICAIC designer Bachs has gone for a very crazy cartoon style with this poster with the text at jagged angles and a lot of playful graphics.



Here's the original Polish poster for comparison: