Empire Marketing Board Posters

Manchester Art Gallery holds a fascinating collection of artist-designed posters, commissioned by the British government's Empire Marketing Board between 1926 and 1933. The EMB's main function was to increase sales of Empire-grown and Empire-made goods throughout Great Britain, its Dominions and its Colonies. One aspect of its activities was a poster campaign that was designed to turn Britons into Empire-conscious consumers.

Over 200 posters were acquired by Manchester Art Gallery in the 1930s. At first highly valued as examples of industrial art, they were later lost and forgotten.

This book presents research into this recently rediscovered collection and outlines some of the powerful stories that it tells. The posters' strong and seductive images illustrate the Empire's people, places and products. However, for a contemporary audience, the posters sometimes express uncomfortable beliefs and raise difficult questions about the legacies of the Empire today.

Paperback 34 pages (with 9 pull-out spreads)

 Size: 12.7 x 7.5 x 1 cm