The Things that Make you Sick: East London Health Campaigning 1977-1980

Fascinating exhibition at the ICA looking at the campaigning work of Peter Dunn and Loraine Leeson producing posters, a video and exhibition to draw attention to health cuts in the late 1970s.

On paper this sounded like a very dry show but it told some really interesting stories and was a reminder of the sort of political posters I had on my college walls in the early 1980s. The graphics on the posters were very effective combining images and information in an easily read and understood way.
 
I was fascinated by the story of the Bethnal Green hospital where the government closed in down in 1977 but the staff occupied it. Only the administrative staff left so it still kept working as a hospital and GPS continued to make referrals, people still went to the casualty unit and ambulance drivers responded to calls. As patients were still being treated the government had a duty to continue to pay salaries.

There is a lot we could learn not from the approach of these campaigners and a lot of what they were fighting against sounds very familiar.

Closes on 2 July 2017

 

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