See more objects with the tag figures, graphic design, political, activist poster.

Object Timeline

0

  • Work on this object ended.

1979

  • Work on this object began.

1993

  • We acquired this object.

2015

2017

2024

  • You found it!

Poster, Where Are Their Graves in Soweto

This is a Poster. It is dated 1979 and we acquired it in 1993. Its medium is lithograph on paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

This poster commemorates the hundreds of students killed by police in the 1976 uprising in Soweto, South Africa. Thousands of black students marched to protest new legislation requiring that Afrikaans, a symbol of apartheid, would be used as the language of instruction in local schools. The horror of the uprising’s casualties made it a symbol of the fight against apartheid and established greater unity in abolishing apartheid government.

This object was donated by Karrie Jacobs and Steven Heller. It is credited Gift of Steven Heller and Karrie Jacobs.

Its dimensions are

46 x 31.8 cm (18 1/8 x 12 1/2 in.)

It is inscribed

Printed in black, upper left of group of figures: where / are / their / graves; in black, lower right of figures: in / soweto; in black, lower left: Each uprising is more determined than the last. In Sharpeville we overcame the / consequences of disobeying the law . . . Soweto has been a lesson in overcoming fear of / the gun.; in black, lower right: Robert Sobukwe, late President / Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania (South Africa); in black, bottom right: Fold on line for permanent display

Cite this object as

Poster, Where Are Their Graves in Soweto; USA; lithograph on paper; 46 x 31.8 cm (18 1/8 x 12 1/2 in.); Gift of Steven Heller and Karrie Jacobs; 1993-53-78

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18645797/ |title=Poster, Where Are Their Graves in Soweto |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=19 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>