PROJECT 1 — COLLECTING Protest posters
Collecting Social Documentation
“We can’t breathe. Justice for George Floyd”
Oslo, 5 June, 2020
Mural outside of Cup Foods in Minneapolis, MN where Floyd died. Photo: Vasanth Rajkumar, CC BY-SA 4.0
The posters
The material consists of posters and photographs from the demonstrations that African Student Association (ASA) and Arise organized 5.6.2020 in Oslo. The organizations invited citizens around the country to join them in demanding justice for George Floyd and the George Floyds of the world. More than 15 000 protesters came out across the country to show solidarity and call for an end to systemic racism and police violence.
Miles Flikke working at LEVs poster drop-off table June 2020. Photo Ka Man Mak/The Oslo Desk.
Large mural donatedby Astrid Solgaard to LEV. Oslo.
Democracy, Civil rights & community narratives
When social anthropologist Michelle A.Tisdel woke up on June 6, 2020, the day after the demonstrations, her first thought was: We must take care of the posters!
The posters are important source material, ethnographic objects, and material anchors to specific places, people, and moments in time. Posters are the defining objects and language of expression for protests worldwide. Each object has a story, represents perspective, and represents a contribution to social facts and history.
Within two days, more than 80 people had contacted Tisdel and expressed interest in donating posters and pictures of posters.
“The protesters reminded me that civil rights is a global issue. This is the right moment for LEV, to collect and serve. Mr. Floyd’s death and the global protests highlight how community narratives, history, heritage, and social justice are intertwined.”
Collect & Serve
We can't breathe - Justice for George Floyd 5.6.2020
The donated source material consists of approximately 80 posters and pictures of posters used during the demonstrations on 5.6.2020 in Oslo and other Norwegian cities.
Community Bridge
The collection of protest posters provides an opportunity to engage with the heritage sector and model inclusive historical representation and narratives. LEV offers support to archives, museums, and libraries that want to learn more about community narratives and strategies for developing inclusive collections management strategies, profiles, and practices.
History and heritage are discourses on the past, a selection of researched and documented facts organized into narratives that promote a thesis or set of claims about a subject.
Community Narratives
LEV explores historical representation and misrepresentation through the lens of community narratives.
Community narratives are perspectives and self-historicizing explanations that a self-identified group creates or adopts. Nevertheless, they are not monolithic and do not represent a consensus.