On Thursday 9th June 2022, London CND had the immense priviledge of being given access to some of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection of anti-nuclear posters, in the presence of the artist Peter Kennard.
After a few minutes of perusing through a rich layout of posters from CND, Greenpeace and many other organisations from Germany to the USA, our group of 25 gathered up to listen to Peter Kennard.
Throughout the 1970s and 80s Peter Kennard’s hugely powerful photomontages ensured that the movement, and the striking imagery that came to represent it, were etched onto the public consciousness.
Peter has gone on to become one of Britain’s leading political artists, creating work which has come to define modern protest.
His iconic, haunting images have appeared in publications such as New Scientist, The Guardian, New Statesmen and many more.
It was fascinating to hear about the behind-the-scenes of how Peter produced his striking collages with kids’ toys, cardboard and many other unexpected elements.
We were shocked to hear that CND had to take a reactionary campaign to court for violating the copyright of one of these posters - only to be told by the judges that the copyright couldn’t be violated on the ground that “there wasn’t enough artistic thinking behind the poster”!
Through this rich collection of posters, we are reminded that the struggle for nuclear disarmament is as pressing as ever. While the UK already owns hundreds of nuclear bombs 8 times more powerful than the ones dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the UK government announced an increase of 40% of its nuclear stockpile in 2021. Furthermore, while the Ukraine war saw direct threats of nuclear escalation, the news broke out last month that US nuclear weapons would return to the base of Lakenheath in Suffolk, 100km from London.
As our Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament continues, the need for impactful imagery and design persists.
We are very grateful to the V&A archivist Zorian for working with us on this event and preparing the posters, and to Peter Kennard for his haunting work and fascinating presentation.
