item details
Artists Against Apartheid; creating agency; 1982; New Zealand
Overview
This poster calls for John Minto to be released from his prison sentence in 1982, which was a result of his arrest during protests against the Springbok rugby tour of New Zealand in 1981. John Minto was the national organiser for HART (Halt All Racist Tours).
HART's split black and white heart motif became the most well-known symbol of the anti-apartheid movement. It neatly makes visual the double meaning of the movement’s acronym and philosophy – that black and white are together and part of the same human heart. It was designed to be easy for anyone to draw, paint or print.
The poster was screen printed by artist David Blair who was a member of Artists Against Apartheid during the Springbok tour in 1981, which morphed into Auckland Artists Action afterwards.
Blair printed 800 copies and the ran out of paper; so printed over the classified section of the newspaper instead. A phone tree of helpers were contacted to past up the posters, preferably avoiding police.