It's clobberin' time!

Youth Friendship Games
Estela Dias, 1971 EP for INDER

Wrestling and boxing are highly popular in Cuba. Lots of Cuban sportsmen became champions worldwide - a fencer Ramon Fonst, an amateur boxer Teofilo Stevenson, hero athlet Alberto Juantorena.

There are many clubs and training facilities operating in Cuba. Making a good career in sport is definitely an option for many a young Cuban boys, not to mention the joy of winning itself. INDER is a National Institute of Sports, Physical Education, and Recreation which supervises the development of sport in Cuba. One of its main activities is organization of Youth Friendship Games, where young talents could get admission to the competitions of higher level. And of course an event of such scale could not live without a colorful and energetic poster.

Water is the source of life!

Faustino Perez
Save it, 1983 EP

This is an amazing graphic work which calls upon water saving. It was created for Columbia's Podder's Popular (People Power) - a political organization emerged from the Liberal Party of Columbia. Supposedly it was also displayed in Cuba as the problem of water saving was also acute there.

Various shortages occurred after the great embargo had been imposed on Cuba in 1962 as a result of confiscation of property of the USA citizens and corporations on the island. USSR did its best to replace the valuable trade relations with the USA by providing subsidies and trade preferences in return for the loyalty to the communist ideology. Nevertheless this was not enough and finally the infrastructure wore out and the shortages started to happen.

Life is short... running makes it seem longer.

Juantorena
Artist Unknown, 1970s, ICAIC (Instituto Cubano del Arte y la Industria Cinematográficos)

This is a bright poster, which announces a documentary by Luis Felipe Bernaza about a Cuban sports hero, Alberto Juantorena. He is a former Cuban track athlete.

In 1973 he won the 400m at the World University Games in Moscow, and the following year he headed the world rankings, with a time of 44.7sec recorded at Turin on 24 July. In 1975, he produced the second-fastest time of the year, 44.80sec, when he finished second at the Pan-American Games in Mexico City on 18 August.

In 1976 at the Montreal Olympics Juantorena made it to the final of 400m, and led the field for most of the race, eventually winning in a world record time of 1:43.50. Three days later, he also won the 400 m final, setting a low-altitude world record of 44.26. Winning in two running disciplines during the same event was an amazing achievement, which gave Alberto his nickname El Caballo (the horse in Spanish).

A Chess Fight!

Army Chess Tournament
Israel Fundora, 1973

Army has always been a pride of Cuba. Its independence was brought up on arms, so munitions’ images occur frequently being part of everyday life. And it’s really interesting that very often these instruments of death are pictured in a positive way.

Take this poster. It announces a chess tournament staged during the 10^th Cuban Army Festival in 1973 in Havana – the capital of Republic of Cuba. The idea of blending a classic F1 hand grenade with a chess knight is simply brilliant. The eye-catching palette also adds up to the magnetic impression of this poster.

Check Vinage Cuban Posters at Allposters.com

Radiant Che

Radiant Che
Alfredo Rostgaard, 1969

This is a world-known Radiant Che poster. This masterpiece utilizes the Alberto Korda's famous photograph of Che Guevarra – an icon of revolutionary movement worldwide and Fidel Castro’s brother-in-arms. Che was captured and executed in 1967 in Bolivia while leading guerilla war against Bolivian government. His heroic death gave way to the Che's cult of personality, which remains ever since both in Cuba and around the world.

The poster was created by Alfredo Rostgaard – a Cuban graphic artist and an art director of Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa and Latin America (OSPAAAL) from 1960 to 1975. OSPAAAL – a Cuban political movement - has always been a source of versatile and outstanding art, which was used to fight globalisation, imperialism, neoliberalism and defending human rights.