Art in the Service of Ideology: HaShomer HaTza'ir Political Posters: Foreword

This introduction to the illustrations is a composite of essays introducing Art in the Service of Ideology: HaShomer HaTza'ir Political Posters 1937-1967, co-published by Yad Ya'ari's HaShomer HaTza'ir Institute for Research and Documentation at Givat Haviva and the Ben-Gurion Research Center at Sede-Boker.* Israel Studies appreciates permission to reproduce from this collection of posters as well as selections from the volume's essays.

The posters in this article are by artists' of the Zionist Left from 1937 to 1967. The posters depict a retrospective reflection of a highly significant era in the history of the world in general and of the Jewish people in particular. Encompassing World War II and the Holocaust, the years of illegal immigration, the struggle against the British Mandate, the War of Independence, and the formative period of the State of Israel--these three decades constitute a fateful and dramatic chapter in the history of the Jewish people in Israel and in the Diaspora.

The political poster during those years was not only an efficient instrument for reaching public opinion, but was also a unique mode for many artists to express their personal goals and objectives. Underlying the design of the posters was the ideological identification of the artist-designer with the views of the political body commissioning the work. At times, this identification and their artistic talent propelled poster designers to the vanguard of political campaigns. The story behind the works of these artists is one of the most important landmarks in the history of Israeli graphic arts and in the history of Israeli social art.

The political poster was designed to sway public opinion in the pre-television (even pre-radio) era when there was no need for the speaker to "pass the screen test" with a smile smeared across his heavily made-up face. Ideas and the ability to implement them were vital. When these were supplemented by an outstanding artistic design and a catchy political slogan in a colorful and eye-catching poster, the prospects of capturing the voters' attention and gaining their support were greater.

Yad Ya'ari (HaShomer HaTza'ir's Documentation and Research Center at Givat Haviva) and the Ben-Gurion Research Center at Sede Boker, co-sponsored the publication of the volume on which this article is based. The book's title reflects the contents: Art in the Service of Ideology. The volume offers dozens of colorful posters from the 1930s through the 1960s. They were commissioned by the National Kibbutz Movement [HaKibbutz Ha'Artzi] and by the United Labor Party [Mapam] for use in various public campaigns and were originally posted in the streets and party offices. Many were published in the daily press. Most are in the archives of the HaShomer HaTza'ir Movement and have been carefully selected for their intrinsic political and artistic messages. We are grateful to the artists for permission to publish their work, and to the Havazelet Fund of the Educational and Cultural Institutions of HaShomer HaTza'ir and to the Ben-Gurion Research Center for making the publication of these posters possible. We are particularly grateful to the staff of the HaShomer HaTza'ir Archives for locating and preparing these posters.

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