All women are courageous! strong! beautiful!
Poster
1990 (designed and printed)
1990 (designed and printed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This is a campaign poster issued by the German Independent Women's Union for the first and only free parliamentary elections ('Volkskammerwahl') in East Germany (GDR-German Democratic Republic) on the 18th of March 1990. The elections took place between the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and the reunification of East and West Germany.
The graphic designer Anke Feuchtenberger used a radical design vocabulary for this poster formed of illustration and comic elements. She engages elements originating out of the GDR tradition of poster drawing, which up until then were solely used for poster advertising in a cultural context. Feuchtenberger was the only designer to infuse this design tradition with a political content and the poster goes far beyond the propaganda platitudes of the designers employed by the Social Unity Party (the ruling party in the communist GDR).
The posters of the Independent Women's Union can be seen as an attenpt to create a stand-alone, new and free kind of political poster for the GDR.
The political message on the poster states: 'Alle Frauen sind mutig! stark! schön! - Auch für Frauen und Kinder eine sorgenfreie Zukunft in dem Europäischen Haus', which means 'all women are courageous! strong! beautiful! - a carefree future in this European house also for women and children'.
The German Independent Women's Union was founded on the 17th of February 1990. The Union was at first a reservoir for different women's movements, with the intention of distancing themselves from the state-directed 'Demokratischer Frauenbund Deutschlands' ('Democratic Women's Federation of Germany'). In September 1991 the Union changed into an association (society), which eventually disbanded in 1998. The political impact of the party remained limited, nevertheless, some of their election posters are of particular importance.
The graphic designer Anke Feuchtenberger used a radical design vocabulary for this poster formed of illustration and comic elements. She engages elements originating out of the GDR tradition of poster drawing, which up until then were solely used for poster advertising in a cultural context. Feuchtenberger was the only designer to infuse this design tradition with a political content and the poster goes far beyond the propaganda platitudes of the designers employed by the Social Unity Party (the ruling party in the communist GDR).
The posters of the Independent Women's Union can be seen as an attenpt to create a stand-alone, new and free kind of political poster for the GDR.
The political message on the poster states: 'Alle Frauen sind mutig! stark! schön! - Auch für Frauen und Kinder eine sorgenfreie Zukunft in dem Europäischen Haus', which means 'all women are courageous! strong! beautiful! - a carefree future in this European house also for women and children'.
The German Independent Women's Union was founded on the 17th of February 1990. The Union was at first a reservoir for different women's movements, with the intention of distancing themselves from the state-directed 'Demokratischer Frauenbund Deutschlands' ('Democratic Women's Federation of Germany'). In September 1991 the Union changed into an association (society), which eventually disbanded in 1998. The political impact of the party remained limited, nevertheless, some of their election posters are of particular importance.
Object details
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| Object type | |
| Titles |
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| Materials and techniques | Lithograph printed in black, pink and purple on paper |
| Brief description | Poster, lithograph, 'All women are courageous! strong! beautiful!', issued by the Independent Women's Union for their campaign for parliamentary elections in the GDR, by Anke Feuchtenberger, GDR, 1990 |
| Physical description | Poster printed in black, purple and pink on a white ground. Depicts three women: a princess kissing a frog; a pregnant mother with two children on her shoulders, carrying bags, a door and a spanner in her hands; and a witch on a broomstick, a cat on her shoulder and a book labelled 'UFV' (Unabhängiger Frauen Verband) in one hand. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Object history | This object is part of a group of graphics inspired by the pro-democracy movement in East Germany in 1989 and 1990, which saw popular demonstrations result in the overthrow of the Communist government, led by Egon Krenz, culminatinng in the free elections of 18 March 1990. All the material, which covers a wide range of the political parties and movements that took part in these events, was gathered by V&A Curator Margaret Timmers in East Berlin in the week preceding these elections. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This is a campaign poster issued by the German Independent Women's Union for the first and only free parliamentary elections ('Volkskammerwahl') in East Germany (GDR-German Democratic Republic) on the 18th of March 1990. The elections took place between the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and the reunification of East and West Germany. The graphic designer Anke Feuchtenberger used a radical design vocabulary for this poster formed of illustration and comic elements. She engages elements originating out of the GDR tradition of poster drawing, which up until then were solely used for poster advertising in a cultural context. Feuchtenberger was the only designer to infuse this design tradition with a political content and the poster goes far beyond the propaganda platitudes of the designers employed by the Social Unity Party (the ruling party in the communist GDR). The posters of the Independent Women's Union can be seen as an attenpt to create a stand-alone, new and free kind of political poster for the GDR. The political message on the poster states: 'Alle Frauen sind mutig! stark! schön! - Auch für Frauen und Kinder eine sorgenfreie Zukunft in dem Europäischen Haus', which means 'all women are courageous! strong! beautiful! - a carefree future in this European house also for women and children'. The German Independent Women's Union was founded on the 17th of February 1990. The Union was at first a reservoir for different women's movements, with the intention of distancing themselves from the state-directed 'Demokratischer Frauenbund Deutschlands' ('Democratic Women's Federation of Germany'). In September 1991 the Union changed into an association (society), which eventually disbanded in 1998. The political impact of the party remained limited, nevertheless, some of their election posters are of particular importance. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.2097-1990 |
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| Record created | February 23, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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