Africana Posters Collection

The Africana Posters Collection contains digitized copies of Africana posters housed in the MSU Libraries Special Collections unit. Currently, the digital archive consists of eight posters relating to the Medu Art Ensemble. The Medu Arts Ensemble was an Anti-Apartheid resistance art movement that operated in Gaborone, Botswana. (Medu is the Pedi word for "roots.") Membership consisted of South African exiles and western sympathizers, and included five artistic units: photography, film and theatre, music, graphic art, and publications and research. The visual arts unit membership consisted of: Thami Mnyele, Miles Pelo, Heinz, Judy Seidman, Gordon Metz, Albio, Theresa Gonzales, Philip Segola, and Lentswe Mokgatle. From 1979-1985, the Medu graphic arts unit produced over fifty anti-Apartheid posters. These posters were smuggled into South Africa and posted throughout the black townships.

This subset is part of the larger Africana Posters Collection. The full collection consist of posters from and about Africa from the 1960s onwards, including many of anti-apartheid movements and national liberation movements, on African elections in such countries as South Africa (1994- ), Malawi, and Ethiopia. Includes posters on diverse subjects such as health and AIDS, women's rights, culture, sports, education, and of community organizations and MSU African Studies Center, and some movie posters. Text on posters in: English, Afrikaans, Amharic, Arabic, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Ndonga, ChiChewa, Portuguese, Russian, Shona, Sotho, Spanish, Swahili, Tigrinya, Tswana, Xhosa, Zulu and other languages. Visit the MSU Libraries online catalog to view poster records from this collection.