Printing Internationalism

THIS EVENT IS NOT AT INTERFERENCE ARCHIVE!

Held in Havana in 1966, the Tricontinental Conference was a historic meeting of delegates from national liberation movements across Africa, Asia and Latin America. As historian Vijay Prashad put it, “the conference called for solidarity with the anti-colonial movements–solidarity that should not come merely on an emotional register, but also solidarity in a material sense.” One example of this material solidarity came from OSPAAAL, the Organization of Solidarity with Peoples of Asia, Africa, and Latin America (OSPAAAL). From the mid 1960s to the late 1980s OSPAAAL supported liberation movements through the production of posters, magazines, and books that circulated across the globe.

Hosted by the Espacio de Culturas, Printing Internationalism is a collaborative effort between NYU’s Calamegs Reading Group, the Espacio de Culturas, and Interference Archive to showcase some of the graphic and intellectual legacy created by OSPAAAL and beyond. Materials displayed will highlight the intersection of graphic design and political solidarity work in the 1960/70s through the lens of internationalist publications such as Tricontinental, Lotus, and Black Phoenix. The exhibition draws from and is inspired by Interference’s recent book, Armed By Design: Posters and Publications of Cuba’s Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America (OSPAAAL), published by Common Notions in 2025.

Opening FRIDAY, APRIL 3RD, 6-10 PM

Espacio de Culturas@ NYU
53 Washington Sq. S
New York, NY

Refreshments will be served. This exhibition is made possible by support from the Espacio de Culturas and co-sponsorships from the Departments of Comparative Literature, Spanish and Portuguese, Art History, Experimental Humanities, Middle East and Islamic Studies, and English.

RSVP HERE

Interference Archive is a Brooklyn-based organization whose mission is to explore the relationship between cultural production and social movements. This work manifests in an open stacks archival collection, publications, a study center, and public programs including exhibitions, workshops, talks, and screenings, all of which encourage critical and creative engagement with the rich history of social movements.

The Calamegs Reading Group is a graduate student-run working group that seeks to complement the certificate program “Comparative Approaches to the Literatures of Africa, the Middle East, and the Global South” (CALAMEGS). Our principal aim is to extend the geographic, linguistic and literary scope of Comparative Literature beyond its Eurocentric tendencies by tapping into the fields and work of Area Studies, History, Performance Studies and other programs. In addition to discussing theoretical texts and primary sources, we seek to be a platform for knowledge production where participants engage in translations, host interdisciplinary events and present their works-in-progress.

THIS EVENT IS NOT AT INTERFERENCE ARCHIVE!