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Date: 12/12/2022
GRANBY – The Granby Free Public Library is currently home to an international labor poster exhibit from the collection of activist Stephen Lewis with the focus on stopping violence against women.
The theme of the exhibit is “End Violence Against Women” and features posters that speak out against violence toward women.
The exhibit’s posters encourage visitors to think about violence against women and how widespread the issue is and continues to be. The exhibit can be disturbing due to its content matter but does not display graphic images of violence, and rather informs viewers through creative graphic art, that the violence is not only prevalent, it is international, and its source is frequently from the spouse, partner or boyfriend of the victim.
The exhibit is running from Dec. 2 through Jan. 2, 2023 and is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The project is supported in part by a grant from the Granby Cultural Council.
Lewis said his latest exhibit depicting this issue in social justice through political posters is meant to inform, document and move to action on the subject and felt it the posters being shared is educational to people’s world views on violence toward women.
“History has shown that women who have been a victim of domestic violence are hesitant to report it or seek help because she may think it won’t happen again, or that the batterer apologizes, or because there is a child involved, or because the batterer is the bread winner, or because the victim is in love, and other reasons,” Lewis said. “Unfortunately, history has shown over and over that the situation does not improve.”
The posters in the exhibit are from several countries. Violence against women is not confined to domestic violence, according to Lewis. He hopes the breadth of this exhibit bears witness to how widespread violence against women is. He also noted he hopes people who view the exhibit will want to learn more about the causes of this violence and how to help prevent it at a personal level and at a community level.
According to information shared by the exhibit, more women are killed in the U.S. by their spouses, significant others and dates then by crimes such as gang related homicides, terrorism and armed robberies. Lewis’ exhibit also showcases the different types of fights in other countries for ending violence against women include issues such as sex trafficking or genital mutilation, far less heard of issues in the U.S.
“I’d like to think most people going there are aware of this issue because it’s so prevalent in the press but also they can see its even broader than what they may have anticipated when they see posters from different countries,” Lewis said. “Maybe some of the posters can cause them to think why this happens.”
Lewis, a longtime activist in the labor movement and the former treasurer of his union, started collecting political posters over 20 years ago and his collection has grown to over 9,000 posters to this day.
As a young college student in Boston, Lewis became politically active and found himself expressing his right to protest for causes he cared about, including the war in Vietnam and labor rights. The newfound interest in politics and the world around him soon opened the door to his career and his collection.
“I have no artistic ability and no background or training or anything. It was all learning on the job, so to speak, and it’s not a job because I don’t get paid for it,” Lewis said with a laugh when speaking to Reminder Publishing about a prior exhibit.
Lewis’ first encounter with a political poster came when he went to an international labor conference in Moscow, where he met many people from around the world and was exposed to posters from many of the different labor organizations. Lewis came away from the conference with a collection of posters but once he was home, reluctantly put them in his attic for safekeeping.
After a few years of the posters just sitting in his home, Lewis decided to find a better way to share the political art he had collected and began looking for exhibit options at public libraries and other potential locations to display the posters.
Lewis eventually settled on finding library space to showcase the collection and began fundraising to purchase frames and string to hang posters along with printed flyers for the exhibits. He was able to raise the necessary money with help from people he had met in various labor unions who were also interested in what he was trying to do and began sharing his collection.
While Lewis does not remember the first poster that caught his eye and started his collection, he developed camaraderie with many people from around the world through trading and collecting different posters. Through his newfound connections he was later invited to other labor movement events around the world where he collected more unique posters when he could attend.
Now as a retiree, Lewis hopes to continue sharing his collected posters through different exhibits in the region as he still lives in Boston. He often reflects on the joy the collection has brough him as it had opened the doors to different relationships with people around the world.
“For me, the most fun I’ve had doing this has been the people I’ve met and the events that I’ve had collecting the posters in a number of countries,” Lewis said to Reminder Publishing in a past interview.