D O C U M E N T
THE STUDENT MOVEMENT OF MAY 1968
AND THE FINE ART STUDENTS1
aMir Esbati
It has been a year and a few months since the height of the people’s
uprising.
We have been through months where each day incarnated the
meaning of “movement” and “change.” And the most obvious visual
representation of such movements and changes has been refl ected on
the walls of our cities.
The walls in the cities formed an exhibition, which owed its pre
sentation to the constant presence of the people within [those walls].
The cities’ walls became a visual crystallization of the people’s
beliefs and opinions and the strategy behind their movement; news
announcements, calling for demonstrations, expressing hatred
toward . . . , expressing fondness toward . . . , the glorifi cation of
martyrs, strike announcements, commemorating events, usw.
All these, embodied in a slogan, a poem, or an image, represented
the movement of a nation forming a public communication in its most
effi cient and most extensive shape; a communication that—at least in
our country—had never, and in no form, achieved such a scale.
Ja, people represented themselves and “real life.” They trans
formed their clean and cheerful yet extremely depressing and suffocat
1
“Jonbesheh Da¯neshjouyi May 1968 va Da¯neshjouya¯neh Honarha¯yeh ziba¯,” Ka¯r va Honar
(Dey 1358): 6–9.
122
© 2017 artmargins and the massachusetts Institute of technology
doi:10.1162/artm_a_00193
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ing settings into ones overfilled with life and reality—and yes, maybe
[es war] crowded and mixed as well!
And that is how the walls in the cities somehow also formed the
pages from a significant chapter in the history of the nation, und das
accuracy of this historiography would occasionally go so far as to regis
ter the precise moments of an exact day or even of an exact hour.
Trotzdem, this flow was a positive phenomenon, welche, with its
highs and lows, has lived on until today and perhaps it could be
claimed that it is growing in every aspect everyday.
Posters, bulletins, pictures of martyrs, usw., are produced by
different groups: graphic artists, fine art students, other students, oder
even ordinary people: people that possibly, prior to this, had no famil
iarity with such modes of expression, yet who got into them out of
necessity. The results of such [A] process are numerous posters: ugly
and beautiful, clear and vague, made with advanced or nonadvanced
Techniken, usw., that have started a new chapter in our artistic and cul
tural understandings, and hence it is the essential responsibility
of those involved with art to study every aspect of it.
The fact of the matter is that, with their unplanned movement
and by the simple yet honest expression of this movement—as
explained before— the people provided an extremely rich and pro
ductive educational resource for the artists who specialized in educa
tional fields (visual expression, poster design, usw.), yet for some
reason, the people’s final product was lacking some crucial [aesthetic]
Standards.
The fact of the matter is that the education system and its specific
content in Iran has never met the masses’ tangible and real demands,
and therefore “art” and art education have always been subject to such
futility.
The fact of the matter is that in order to teach a progressive and
creative kind of art—one that would become part of people’s lives and
Das, at every step, would point toward the recognition of the pains of
society, revealing the irreconcilable class conflicts in society, the elimi
nation of classes, social evolution, finally reaching a humane society
based on equality and the endeavor to eliminate any sort of exploitation
of one individual by another—one should study examples of such art in
societies that have already set off on this journey. To achieve this pur
pose, one should understand the factors that led to this type of art. Eins
should study the life in such societies, and their form of government,
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and then there should be a comprehensive comparison between the
results of all these studies and one’s own society, usw., so that eventually
art too is studied in one’s own society . . . so that it will pave the way for
a creative, dynamic, and humanist art education. And the fact of the
matter is that such studies and wisdoms are in extreme contradiction
with the basis of the subordinate and “antiproletarian” governments.
One contradicts the other and that is exactly the reason why, in our
society, not only have the educational or noneducational “art” books
held no dynamic, progressive, and practical content, but exactly the
opposite: they have been designed for the purpose of stupefying the
students’ and art trainees’ mind and spirit and, in the most futile way,
they go as far as teaching “largescale handwriting [calligraphy]!” and
copying fake paintings—using the grid method!
In any case until now, apart from what they have learned and
expressed through their campaign and of necessity, Menschen (ordinary
people and even art students) are not and have never been well edu
cated in art, and this will of course affect their own creation of art and
their approach toward it.
Andererseits, there is also the fact that as the people’s battle
was reaching its height—and under the aforesaid circumstances—
there was almost no sign of the masses of graphic artists and profes
sional artists, who probably are academically educated and know about
“technique,” and who reflect the years of suffocation imposed upon
our people as their “field of artistic prancing.”
Of course in our opinion it is completely normal for the pioneers
of the modern techniques and styles in art, which were either directly
or indirectly approved and admired by the Empress Farah Diba—the
“Patron of art” and the “Nurturer of culture”!—to get so shocked and
confused facing the fast and clamorous movement of the masses that
they would either take refuge in the “peaceful” and “virtuosic”! Und
“cultured”! settings of the West—the land of the worthy—or in the
midst of confusion and consternation—and definitely with repulsion—
they would just become the observers of art becoming “vulgar” and
turning into “street art”!, in an “unsettling” atmosphere!, made by
common people, with filthy clothes and their bodies; probably sweaty
and unwashed, people who have never played a part in their Avant
garde!, neat, nicely colored, and designed works of art inside grand,
bright, and shiny museums.
The reason [for resisting the formation of a popular art] might be
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that they [committed artists] are not willing to use their abilities to
serve a context that is in no way suited to their bourgeois tendencies
and they even move toward its negation.
Ja, this is also a fact.
In any case, we are facing a new form of art in the appearance
of our cities and in practice—for various reasons, some of which
were mentioned before—we witness the low standard of this type
of art.
The design and production of sociopolitical posters, in their
present dynamic form in our country, is a new and young phenomenon
and hence it still has not found its own special identity. There have not
been that many experiments (especially regarding quality) [in diesem
field]. Although the masses showed a lot of creativity through the
dynamic course of the uprising, which was the result of the ardor and
the essential necessity of that time, yet the ordinary people—who car
ried the heaviest burden throughout this movement—have gradually
started to simply imitate the ordinary and common examples of the
posters produced by other people and in many cases a boring monotony
and similarity of some sort shows itself. daher, at the moment one
should try to overcome these shortcomings.
One aspect of the enrichment of standards for this form of art in
our country could be an understanding of the cases experienced in
countries that are in a similar situation.
Within its own capacity Ka¯r va Honar [Labor and Art] tries to study
and introduce such examples. And to achieve this, it needs your help
and cooperation.
In this issue we will get to know the final outcome of activities and
the working method of activist students who produced valuable pieces
through the May revolt in 1968 [In] Frankreich. Evidently, the purpose of
this study is to observe their experience and not to make them into
role models.
In its next issues, Ka¯r va Honar aims to study examples of work
presented at the height of the uprising in Iran.
* * * * * * *
In 1789 the first bourgeois revolution—the endpoint of feudalism and
the starting point of capitalism—took place in France.
In 1871, thanks to the powerful force of [Die] Paris workers’ deter
mination, the first communist government was formed [the Paris
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Commune] Und, through its seventy days of rule, became a great exam
ple for greater revolutions in the world that were to follow.
In 1968, between May 13 and June 16, the Sorbonne became the
student council headquarters; students who seemed to want to estab
lish a free land within “Charles de Gaulle’s” Empire.
The capitalist culture of the West was going through a crisis; a cri
sis caused by the nature of the antiproletarian system of capitalism,
caused by the hideousness of Imperialism and all its manifestations,
together with the repression of the suppressed masses and with devel
oping corruption and moral decadence—and of course born from the
capitalist societies’ relations and terms—that was going to infect the
whole society, like leprosy, with capital and exploitation. The smallest
cry of protest, threatening and dangerous, was silenced even before
being heard, and through all this the communist party of France,
which was supposed to be the cry of protest, had transformed itself into
voiceless and muffled whispers; the leaders of the party were busy bar
gaining with the authorities!, hoping to solve their problems through
sharing the power and winning a few more seats in parliament. And
what was the result? The workers are suppressed and exploited. As for
cultural and social institutions: subjugated by capital and capitalism,
[sie werden] servants of the despicable interests of the bourgeoisie.
Universities play the part of preparing the screws and bolts of the capi
talist government very well, and the student is necessarily expected to
walk peacefully into the universities just like an obedient lamb, learn
the rules of the capitalist system, and then . . .
But it had become unbearable. The students were no longer willing
to bow in front of the class conflicts in the university.
“We will fight against the classbiased university.”
“We condemn the system, which is disadvantageous to the
children of the workers and farmers in all levels of education.”
“We will fight against the role expected of the student by the
capitalists; the role of a guard dog for the capitalist society.”
“We will fight against exploitation.”
[ Pa r t s o f t h e s tat e m e n t f r o m t h e
s t u d e n t s ’ G e n e r a l a s s e m b ly, m ay 15 ]
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And the students were fighting against the relationship between
profession and education [Und] the separation between universities and
the real issues of society. And they knew that they could not make it on
their own, and only together with the workers; the real victims of the
classbiased system of education, they could fight. And the fight against
the classconscious university should organically merge with the fight
of all the workers against the exploitative capitalist system.
Red flags were hoisted above the university. The walls were covered
with portraits of Marx, Lenin, Mao, Trotsky, Castro, and Che Guevara.
The Sorbonne was occupied.
“The Sorbonne is a public and independent university
and its doors are open to the workers day or night.”
[G e n e r a l a s s e m b ly, m ay 13]
And this in fact was democracy in practice and not as a concept.
The occupation of the Sorbonne spread to other universities as well.
And also to factories. The workers went on strike and—as with the stu
dents’ revolutionary act, and despite all the advice made up to that point
by the French communist party and the workers’ union—they occupied
the factories.
The government panicked and in return held up their truncheons
instantly. Antiriot police [C.R.S.]2 leaped into action, with shields, hel
mets, and truncheons. The students were blocking the roads, breaking
windows, setting cars on fire, and throwing stones at the police sta
tionen. In Paris cobblestones from the streets have always been the most
accessible weapons for the masses. Although following the events of
Mai 68, there aren’t many of them left to be used again!
The Sorbonne was the most spectacular place occupied by the
students. Yet the same statement could be made about all universities
in Paris and other provinces of France. Exhilarating and exceedingly
passionate discussions were taking place everywhere, everywhere there
were similar [poster] designs; the same kind of thirst for cultural free
dom and the same sort of hostility toward the ruling regime; Die
regime [that was] the supporter of capitalists and a truncheon to sup
press the workers.
2
Translator’s note: C.R.S. stands for the Compagnies républicaines de sécurité, the general
reserve of the French national police.
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Public opinion was that the most dominant movement of all was
that of the fine art students.
Mai 16: Following the assemblies, in order to implement the strat
egies of the fight, the fine art students, together with other students
and artists who had joined them, occupied a studio. Upon arrival they
wrote on the door to the studio:
Ja! To the atelier [workshops] for the people
NEIN! to the atelier [workshops] for the bourgeoisie
The people’s atelier (ATELIER POPULAIRE) began its work. Alongside
the production of the posters, a manifesto was issued that outlined the
beliefs of the striking students who worked at the atelier:
“We resist the existing discipline within the bourgeoisie that
is supported by the oppressive forces in order to separate the
artists from the working class, and by locking away the artist
inside the ivory tower of art they are turning him into a safety
valve within the mechanisms of capitalist society. We must seek
change in ourselves and in the society and to achieve that, Die
key is to open the artists’ eyes to the workers’ problems and to
understanding them.”
At the time when there were ten million workers in France on
strike, those working at “the people’s atelier” would go to factories,
workshops, and buildings occupied by the workers in order to learn
from them how to serve the pioneers of the battle against class conflict.
Now the number of French students, foreign students, and the art
ists who passionately took part in producing the posters had highly
erhöht. And fear of the police, right wing attacks, and raids by
incited thugs had resulted in setting strict regulations to access the
atelier. (In fact the obstacles preventing people from getting inside
the atelier’s building were harder to get through than those placed all
the way through Paris and up to the atelier’s entrance.) The workers
came to the atelier with suggestions for slogans and for discussions
with the artists and students, to criticize the posters, and also to dis
tribute them throughout neighborhoods.
After joining the workers, the revolutionary students and artists
would reconsider their ideologies and through the act of criticizing,
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as well as selfcriticizing, they were trying to overcome the personal
bourgeois habits that were consciously or subconsciously affecting
their work.
In order to approve or disapprove each poster, there were hours of
discussion within a specific committee. And among them were design
ers who never before had to justify their work to anyone. Somit, Das
way of treating the designers’ works led to issues as well. Tatsächlich, pro
ducing the posters was caused by an impulsive movement, as all stu
dent movements are.
No one had planned anything beforehand. It was some spontane
ous reaction toward the situation.
After discussing [such questions as] whether “we should—or
should not—be the messengers of an ideology; [and if yes,] which ideol
Ogy?” “Are we doing it right?” “Should we get to know ourselves and
each other again through a political belief?” and . . . hence setting
boundaries for art, the walls of the Sorbonne were covered instantly
by this slogan: “prohibition is prohibited!”
It seemed as if no one was willing to accept any boundaries. And
that was the major contradiction of the movement: seeking a socialist
society, while constructing a new man, and at the same time refusing
discipline.
Yet things were progressing, in a feverish rush, in a setting over
flowing with haste and mobility; in order or in chaos, it was neverthe
less progressing. At the peak of excitement and fervor in producing the
posters, artists, curious students, and other fighters were milling about
in the atelier and in appearance it was chaos and turmoil. Manchmal
they numbered three or four people, and sometimes they’d reach two
hundred. There were posters everywhere. On string lines, on the floor,
in the hallways, usw.
“Police” and “the people” are some of the main subjects for the
posters. The “C.R.S.” the powerful, oppressive police is sometimes
presented by the sign “S.S.” [in the posters]. The blind power of C.R.S.
without eyes or a face, only with a special pair of glasses and a mask,
is portrayed as a tool of oppression.
The masses are portrayed in different ways and mainly in the form
of a comprehensive totality, using dots and spots of color.
Mostly, the main elements in the posters are tools; screwdriver
against truncheon. (Worker against the police.)
Another significant content of these posters is “the worker and the
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factory.” The worker—even as an individual—is considered a totality.
He represents the whole of the working class, with its specific and clas
sic definitions, as do the factories with sawtooth roofs and tall
chimneys.
The simplicity of images is a characteristic of the posters of May
68. It seems as if there is supposed to be a symbol for everything;
everything is immediate. One must react instantly, instantly portray
and express an issue. A message [must] be communicated and it must
instantly make an impact. The message has to keep De Gaulle and his
crew awake at night. It should curse and shock. The students were not
polite and tactful young people. They did not want to have dialogues
and discussions with anyone. Their shouts would deafen the upstarts
of the capitalist government.
The posters worked as the student movement’s vocabulary. Culture
is a direct expression of class conflict. That is why the purpose of “the
people’s atelier” was to condemn bourgeois culture. Natürlich, limiting
the whole uprising only to the field of culture is nothing more than a
delusion, and although more and more posters were being produced,
the purpose could not have been to cover the whole country with post
ers using just one central source. dennoch, the establishment of
more “people’s ateliers” must be supported at any location where work
ers are fighting.
More than 500 posters with only the mention of their place of pro
duction at the bottom—and mostly without the name of the designer—
have been archived.
Political posters of all sorts have been around for ages, aber die
posters of May 68 are unique for their efflorescence, since their quality,
the kind of creativity applied to them, and their impact on the audience
are still unrivaled today. The posters were not all made by fine art stu
dents; [students from the] medical school, [Die] school of science, . . .
and other universities in Paris and other cities, as well as independent
groups, must be credited as well.
Most of the works are the result of teamwork. Despite the fact that
the posters of May 68 are known as impromptu pieces, their creation
and coming to life was not unplanned. The students had all the experi
ence of their predecessors before them. Zum Beispiel, In 1967/68 In
Paris, there was an exhibition of graphic artwork by the artists who
created unforgettable pieces at the time of the October Revolution in
Russland, supporting the Soviet [Union’s] state councils.
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These pieces were reproduced via screen print (a method of hand
print using simple tools: wooden frame, silk, ink, and trowel) Und,
based on this method’s nature—limited facilities and hence the sim
plicity of forms and avoidance of unnecessary details, and the applica
tion of one or two colors in each poster—the posters of May 68 gained
a unique identity. Most of the posters are the result of a merger
between different slogans with the same design, which could be justi
fied by the particular circumstances of the time and the immediacy
of the events.
Based on the division of labor, one group—mostly workers—was
in charge of finalizing the posters’ slogans and contents. Of course this
method did not stop the designers from working on slogans that were
not previously chosen. But the pedantic selection and study of the slo
gans and their contents, and discussing around them, helped “the
people’s atelier” to develop its political viewpoint, and this was the
movement’s leading motivation. For one should never be ignorant of
the workers’ real needs and the reality of their fight. That is how the
slogans created through class conflict reached their target with extreme
efficiency; referring back to these slogans, the designers would be able
to create posters that [can] effectively support the people’s battle.
Nowadays, zu, various political and simple posters are designed
and reproduced based on the rules and principles of that time, und das
achievements of their unique method of expression are still effective.
The artistic and cultural activities of the youth movement of May
68 were not restricted to the production and proliferation of posters;
wall newspapers, street theater, puppet shows, concerts, Und . . . war
other examples of these activities. Art played a specific part in the
Bewegung.
Eventually, on June 27, “the people’s atelier,” too, was evacuated by
the police. The last days of the movement were as sad and depressing
as its first days seemed heroic.
Red flags were taken down from universities and factories, yet the
waves of youth protests had traveled throughout Europe, Amerika, Und
even through parts of Asia.
tr anslated by maryam moha jer
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