The London Open 2018

Film, curated exhibition + curated events (Nocturnal Creatures, Refugee Tales, Text Messages, Anti-university game play)
On Loop: Civil Rites (2017, 28mins)

Thank the following institutions and individuals who have lent campaigning materials from their collections:
Holly Antrum, Andrew Cooper, Anton Califano, Aysen Dennis, Anita Gray, Tina Grace, Dan Jones, David Herd, Cee-J Hutchinson, London Action Resource Centre Archive, Alessio Lunghi, Lindis Percy, Noor Afshan Mirza, Anna Pincus, Refugee Tales, AnnRobinson, Juliet Jaques, NinaScott, Emma Sangster, Stanley Schtinter, Shiri Shalmi, Refugee Tales, Berna Vardar, Class War, Cathy Ward and those who wish to remain anonymous

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The collection of banners and posters from Greenham Common are dedicated to Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp co- founder Helen John who died in 2017.

Black Women Will Not Be Intimidated, 1980–81; Take a Pill Mrs Brown, 1977 12 Women’s Day March, 1975; Posters from See Red Women’s Workshop (1974–90). The organisation ran collective poster making workshops in support of the women’s liberation movement, countering negative images of women in advertising and the media. Their first commission was for International Women’s Day in 1975 and they subsequently supported campaigns raging from healthcare politics to racial equality.

Precarity PingPong, 2004; Poster for Precarity Ping Pong, a series of events organised by Greenpepper Magazine, Amsterdam and Mute Magazine, London, which explored issues of labour and precarity.

Social Housing Not Social Cleansing, 2015; Poster made by artist Nina Scott for housing campaigning group Focus E15

Posters for The Women’s Strike Assembly, a coalition of autonomous feminist groups organising around issues of paid and reproductive labour, trans and sex workers rights, gender violence and access to services. Sex / Work Strike, 2018, Women’s Strike, 2018, There’s No Liberation Without Trans Liberation, 2018, Women’s Strike, 2018

Flyer for Peace News Issue 2443: Gender and Militarism, 2001; Poster for International Women’s Day published in Peace News, 2012; Peace News is a community organised newspaper, established in 1936, that promotes peace and justice causes. A 2012 issue included a poster to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the women-led ‘Bread and Roses’ strike, in which 25,000 textile workers in the town of Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA, protested for fairer wages and better living conditions.

Leaflet for JENGbA,2017; JENGbA (Joint Enterprise: Not Guilty by Association) campaigns on behalf of prisoners and their families against convictions brought under controversial joint enterprise laws.

Landlord Gangster,c.2015; We Want Secure Homes Now for Everyone, c. 2015; Posters gathered by Andrea Luka Zimmerman during housing protests

Advance to Mayfair, 2016; Posters used in protests against the sale and redevelopment of social housing made by Class War, an anarchist newspaper and activist group set up in 1983.

We Love our Home, which is why we support the Ayelsbury Occupation, 2015; Ayelsbury Occupation poster by Andrew Cooper, andrewcooper-unseen.org

GentrificationWatch, 2015; This Area is Under Community Protection: Stop Evictions, c. 2015; Anti-Gentrification posters from the collection of Aysen Dennis. A feminist and anarchist, Dennis founded a campaign in 2000 to ght against the redevelopment of the South London Aylsebury Estate and the displacement of her community.

Carnival Against Capital, 1999; The Carnival Against Capital, held on 18 June 1999, was an international day of protest timed to coincide with the 25th G8summit in Cologne, Germany.

NO, 2003; Campaigning materials for Stop the War Coalition. Founded in September 2001 in the weeks following 9/11 and George W. Bush announcement of the ‘war on terror’, Stop the War Coalition has campaigned to prevent and end the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere. Artist, writer and activist David Gentleman designed a range of graphics featuring a red blood spatter.

No War for Oil! c. 2004

Gin For Everyone: Plan C London, 2016; Poster designed for anti-capitalist organisation Plan C. The pink cocktail refers to the drinks served during Plan C London’s monthly meetings, a gesture of decadence and luxury that counters the perceived frugality of other leftist groups

Greenham Women Against Cruise: Take President Reagan to Court in the USA, 1983; Thousands of Women will Reclaim GreenhamCommon,1983; Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp was a peace camp established in 1981 to protest at nuclear weapons being sited at RAF Greenham Common in Berkshire, England

Nothing to Lose but our Chains, 2017; Baby grow worn by baby Gabriel. The clothing was printed by the South London group of Sisters Uncut, who campaign on behalf of domestic violence survivors. Gabriel and his mother were housed as a result of Sisters Uncut meetings with the council.

This is Privatised Space, 2016; Balloon printed with anti-capitalist message. Balloons were released by artist and activist Richard DeDominici at locations throughout Newcastle upon Tyne as a playful protest action. Found in London.

AdSpaceHackPack, 2015; Toolkit for removing and replacing commercial advertising, designed by anti-capitalist collective Special Patrol Group.

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From LARC (London Action Resource Center) archive:
This Election Use Your Cross Wisely, 2010 (LARC)

Bring on The Cuts, 2010–15 (LARC)

Welcome to WhitechApel: An Invitation..., Unknown date; Campaigning materials from the Whitechapel Anarchist Group

MayDay,2003; MayDay,2000; MayDayActionGuide,2003; Flyers for London May Day protests

Reclaim the what??, 1991–2003; Reclaim the streets, 1991–2003; Posters used by Reclaim the Streets, a collective that promotes the community ownership of public spaces, founded in 1991.

Please obstruct privatisation, c. 2007

We are more powerful than they can possibly imagine, 2000s

Fracking is coming to the UK!!! Together we can stop it, 2017; Flyer for environmental campaigners Frack Off

Storm the Banks!, 2009; Anti-capitalist poster for protests that accompanied the 2009 G20 summit held in London

Who Killed Altab Ali, Never Forget Altab Ali, Bangladeshi Altab Ali was 24 years old when he was killed by members of the National Front in a racist attack on 4 May 1978. Since then, commemorations have been held annually on this day in addition to a wide range of campaigning activities that honour his memory and promote anti-racist causes. Banner by Dan Jones

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More banners:
Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group Quilt, 2014; Quilt made as the result of a community sewing project with the Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group. School children, detained and formerly detained asylum seekers and volunteers contributed patchwork panels featuring images of journey and friendship. The project was organised by Refugee Tales, an organisation promoting the rights of refugees

Out of Order, 2018; Banner printed on an upside-down US flag by Lindis Percy, co-founder of the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases. In 2001 Percy was initially ned after conducting a protest at a U.S. Air Force station in Norfolk, East Anglia. She subsequently brought a landmark case in the UK High Court, which granted legal authority to use and ‘deface’ the U.S. flag. Thank you Schtinter.

Battersea CND,1985; Banner made by Battersea’s CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) Group and used at Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp, a peace camp established in 1981 to protest at nuclear weapons being sited at RAF Greenham Common in Berkshire, England.

Stairs Right Wall

SexWorkisWork, 2018; Banner for The Women’s Strike Assembly, a coalition of autonomous feminist groups organising around issues of paid and reproductive labour, trans and sex workers rights, gender violence and access to services.

Stairs Left Wall

JusticeForCleaners,2017; Banner made by United Voices of
the World, an independent member- led trade union that organises for precarious workers, mainly in service industries. This banner was used as part of a successful campaign at the London School of Economics where cleaners, many of whom were low paid migrant workers, fought to be employed in-house rather than through a private contractor.

Stairs Middle Wall

LIARS, 2016; Banner used at the March for Europe on 2nd July 2016, shortly after the Brexit referendum. The slogan ‘liars’ was printed in response to pledges made during the referendum campaign.

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EVENTS:
9 July 2018
Are Rites Your Responsibility? Gallery visit and game play.

A visit to artist and cultural activist Andrea Luka Zimmerman’s screening room and installation (including key texts from 1968 and London protest banners from across the decades), part of the London Open 2018 at the Whitechapel Gallery. The central work is Andrea’s 2017 film Civil Rites, an exploration of radical Newcastle and the political and social legacy of Martin Luther King’s visit in 1967. The film is 28 minutes long.

Game play: Part of the exhibition is the 1980s game ‘Roots and Bootstraps’ developed by feminist and anti-racist activist Pat Garrett (also founding member of the 1980s queer punk band The Frigging Little Bits) exploring class privilege. The game board is hand-drawn, and its rules and moves are designed to prompt discussion about social mobility, opportunity and allegiances. The game is based on first hand experiences and this play hopes to make a current version of it for 2018.

Andrea Luka Zimmerman will talk about how the Civil Rites project came together, and one of the activist groups lending a banner may speak about their current campaign.

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11 July 2018
Refugee Tales - Whitechapel Gallery 3- 3.30pm

On the final day of its 2018 walk, the Refugee Tales project, which walks in solidarity with refugees, asylum seekers and detainees, paused at the gallery to recite articles from The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, marking its 70th anniversary.

This special happening coincides with Andrea Luka Zimmerman’s presentation in the exhibition of Civil Rites (2018). The film takes Martin Luther King’s honorary doctorate acceptance speech at the University of Newcastle in 1967 as the point of departure for a timely meditation on contemporary social justice movements.

Continuing its call for an end to indefinite detention, Refugee Tales 2018 runs from 7-11 July.

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21 July 2018
Nocturnal Creatures - Whitechapel Gallery 8-10pm

A shared reading that echoes Luka Zimmerman’s film Civil Rights, exploring how poverty, racism and war continue to haunt our lives. Readings by Aysen Dennis, Evan Ifekoya, So Mayer, Liberty Anthony Sadler, Daniella Shreir and Andrea Luka Zimmerman.

• http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibi...
• http://www.fugitiveimages.org.uk/project...
• https://mailchi.mp/whitechapelgallery/no...
• https://www.whitechapelgallery.org/event...
• http://refugeetales.org/
• http://www.antiuniversity.org/