Exhibit

Royal Chicano Air Force Posters

Houghton Library Lobby Gallery, Summer 2023
Three men sit in a military jeep with a banner reading "RCAF" on the front grill.
Ricardo Favela. ¡Huelga! ¡Strike! Support The U.F.W.A. (1976)
Credit: MS Typ 1323, Houghton Library, Harvard University
A poster in green and yellow reading "Califas, posters, barrio art, murals, para..."
Artist unidentified. Centro de Artistas (around 1975)
Credit: MS Typ 1323, Houghton Library, Harvard University
A bright pink poster depicting a 19th century woman and a word balloon reading "Viva la huelga. Vote."
Rodolfo “Rudy” Cuellar. Cinco de Mayo (1976)
Credit: MS Typ 1323, Houghton Library, Harvard University
bright blue, pink, and black flowers with skulls in the centers.
Ricardo Favela. Día de los Muertos (detail, 1977)
Credit: MS Typ 1323, Houghton Library, Harvard University
Three men sit in a military jeep with a banner reading "RCAF" on the front grill. A poster in green and yellow reading "Califas, posters, barrio art, murals, para..." A bright pink poster depicting a 19th century woman and a word balloon reading "Viva la huelga. Vote." bright blue, pink, and black flowers with skulls in the centers.

Through Friday, Aug 25, 2023

Open to the public

Location

Lobby, First Floor
Houghton Library
Harvard Yard
Cambridge, MA 02138
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Directions to Houghton Library

Formed in 1970, the Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF) is a collective of Sacramento-based artists best known for poster and mural making. Their eye-popping graphics helped to galvanize people of Mexican ancestry into a potent social and political force at the height of the United Farm Workers struggle and the fight for Chicano civil rights in the 1970s. Their work continues to draw attention to the urgent social justice issues facing the Chicanx and Latinx communities.

The silkscreen posters and ephemera on display present a cross section of the group’s activist efforts, announcing labor strikes and boycotts as well as art-based social programs and community celebrations.

Curated by Dale Stinchcomb, Associate Curator of the Harvard Theatre Collection, from the collection of David Rasul, longtime member of the RCAF’s Cultural Affairs Committee. Design by Margarita Encomienda.

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Formada en 1970, la Real Fuerza Aérea Chicano (RCAF, sigla en inglés) es un colectivo de artistas de Sacramento más conocido por la creación de carteles y murales. Sus gráficos llamativos ayudaron a galvanizar a las personas de ascendencia mexicana a convertirse en una poderosa fuerza social y política en el apogeo de la lucha de los trabajadores agrícolas y el movimiento chicano en pro de los derechos civiles en la década de los años setenta. Su trabajo sigue llamando la atención sobre los problemas urgentes de justicia social que enfrentan las comunidades chicanx y latinx.

Los carteles en exhibición presentan una muestra representativa de los esfuerzos activistas del grupo, anunciando huelgas y boicots, así como programas sociales basados ​​en el arte y las celebraciones comunitarias.

Organizado por el curador asociado Dale Stinchcomb de la colección de David Rasul, miembro desde hace mucho tiempo del Comité de Eventos Culturales del RCAF. Diseño de Margarita Encomienda.

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