Support! Vote! Strike!

1966 and afterwards

Around 1966, a new counterculture materialized in the Netherlands. The Provo actions deeply distressed the authorities. Students demanded greater input in the educational system. All kinds of new action committees were dedicated to specific causes, such as the housing shortage, nuclear arms, and the war in Vietnam. These groups would have nothing to do with the established parties, which the younger generation associated with the staid establishment that they wanted to discard. Some of their campaigns were harsh and confrontational, while others were playful and humorous. Everything coincided: radical politics, non-conformism, sexual liberation. The idols of the rebellious younger generation included revolutionaries such as Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, as well as John Lennon and Mick Jagger.

Posters figured prominently in this protest movement. Major media (radio, television, newspapers) rarely reported about the younger generation and their campaigns or depicted them exclusively in a negative light. Posters enabled these people to publicize their points of view and announce demonstrations at their discretion. They produced their own drawings and designs and opened printing plants. The official rules of the trade fell by the wayside: expressing individual style and subculture prevailed.

1. Willem, Provoke!, 1966

2. Jean-Paul Vroom, Jail the first stone, ca. 1967

3. Peter Dicampos, With love from Holland, 1967

4. Willem, Honourable landlords and house-agents, ca. 1968

5. Willem de Ridder, Vondelpark love-in, 1968

6. Jan Wolkers, Americans out of Vietnam, 1968

7. Mark de Klyn, René Treumann, Revolution in Latin America, 1968

8. Designer unknown, Learn your profession in the class struggle, 1969

9. Rob Stolk, People of Amsterdam! Don't listen …, 1969

10. John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Stay in bed. Hair peace. Bed peace, 1969

11. Alberto Korda, Che Guevara, ca. 1970

12. Rolling Shelter, Survivors Unite, 1970

13. Gerard Goossen, Hunt a car, 1970

14. Alexander, Angela Davis, ca. 1971

All texts and picture files on this site are copyrighted. They are meant for display on this site only. Nothing may be copied, duplicated, or distributed in any other way without prior written permission. More information can be obtained from the Services department.