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November 17, 1989 - National Street in Prague.

Poster
1989 (photographed), 1989 (printed and published)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The photograph reproduced on this poster documents the student demonstration in Prague on the 17th of November 1989. This non-violent protest challanged the authorities who responded brutally. It initiated the events which culminated in the 'Velvet Revolution' and the overthrow of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.

The student demonstration began with a meeting in the Albertov district of Prague on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Nazi persecution of Czechoslovak students who had held mass protests during the burial of Jan Opletal (a Czech student from the medical faculty of the Charles University who was shot during demonstrations against theGerman occupation of Czechoslovakia on October 28, 1939). The Albertov student meeting continued with a ‘march for democracy’ to the centre of Prague. On the way towards National Street the student demonstration was joined by other, mainly young, people demanding freedom and democracy.

This photograph shows demonstrators bravely holding flowers against the truncheons in the hands to the ‘White Helmets’ (as the special troops of the Ministry of Interior Affairs were known). Photographs of the demonstration were printed and circulated in the shocked aftermath of the White Helmets' brutality.


Designed, printed and published in former Czechoslovakia


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • November 17, 1989 - National Street in Prague. (generic title)
  • Pro-democracy Poster Collection (named collection)
Materials and techniques
Offset lithograph printed on paper
Brief description
Poster depicting a photograph taken during the student demonstration of 17 November 1989, published and printed in former Czechoslovakia, 1989.
Physical description
Protest poster with the black and white photographic image of a line of riot police barricading Narodni Avenue, Prague, wearing white helmets and carrying transparent riot shields. A hand stretched towards them offers flowers in a gesture of peace.
Dimensions
  • Maximum height: 30.0cm
  • Maximum width: 41.8cm
size of sheet
Credit line
Given by Zdenek Kavan
Object history
This poster was printed and circulated immediately after the events of 17 November 1989.
Historical context
The photograph on this poster was one of several documenting the events of 17 November 1989, printed and circulated in the shocked aftermath of the police brutality. Initially printed individually, the photographs were also issued in a portfolio entitled 'Ceskoslovensky listopad 1989' [Czechoslovakia November 1989] comprising photographs of the Velvet Revolution and published immediately afterwards. In it the photograph featured in this poster is entitled '17 listopad/kvety pohotovostnimu pluku' [17 November/Flowers for the regiment of guards] but is printed in reverse.
Production
Designed, printed and published in former Czechoslovakia
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
The photograph reproduced on this poster documents the student demonstration in Prague on the 17th of November 1989. This non-violent protest challanged the authorities who responded brutally. It initiated the events which culminated in the 'Velvet Revolution' and the overthrow of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.

The student demonstration began with a meeting in the Albertov district of Prague on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Nazi persecution of Czechoslovak students who had held mass protests during the burial of Jan Opletal (a Czech student from the medical faculty of the Charles University who was shot during demonstrations against theGerman occupation of Czechoslovakia on October 28, 1939). The Albertov student meeting continued with a ‘march for democracy’ to the centre of Prague. On the way towards National Street the student demonstration was joined by other, mainly young, people demanding freedom and democracy.

This photograph shows demonstrators bravely holding flowers against the truncheons in the hands to the ‘White Helmets’ (as the special troops of the Ministry of Interior Affairs were known). Photographs of the demonstration were printed and circulated in the shocked aftermath of the White Helmets' brutality.


Designed, printed and published in former Czechoslovakia
Bibliographic reference
Nothing in the World but Youth Margate: Turner Contemporary, 2011. ISBN: 9780955236334.
Collection
Accession number
E.28-1991

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Record createdFebruary 1, 2006
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