A Wollongong-based feminist poster and print collective
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| Wollongong Womens Centre, banner image, Witchworks Women Printing, n.d. [1980-4], silkscreen on cloth. |
Witchworks posters and associated promotional materials - produced by the Witchworks Print Collective, or Witchworks Women Printing - grew out of the vibrant feminist social justice scene in Wollongong during the late 1970s and early 1980s, in tandem with similar metropolitan-based movements such as the Earthworks Poster Collective at the University of Sydney (Yuill 2015) and the rebirth worldwide of International Women's Day. According to records in the archives of the Wollongong Women's Information Centre (WWIC), the Witchworks Print Collective formed around 1978, before officially joining the WWIC in 1980 and working in close collaboration with that organisation through to 1984. The WWIC remains in operation as the Wollongong Women's Information Service, though since its formation it has also been known as The Women's Centre, or a variation thereof. As of the beginning of 2017, little historic information on Witchworks was publically available regarding the artists involved, their methods or output. A single, unattributed poster survived in the Sydney Powerhouse Museum collection - End the silence about domestic violence - and there were brief, single sentence references to Witchworks in Lanyrie (2002) and Mayhew (2011). The latter, in an article on New South Wales-based women-only print collectives from the 1970s and 1980s, listed Witchworks amongst those for which no information could be found. By far the most detailed description of the Collective's work was a paragraph in the 2010 PhD thesis by Lanyrie (available online), based upon extensive research in the WWIC archives, plus interviews with participants. Therein Lanyrie notes:
....Other feminist activities at the WWIC included the work by the print collective, known as 'Witchworks' that was established in 1980. Contributions by the print collective and the feminist theatre group to the International Women's Day became a colourful and integral part of the Wollongong Women's Centre's contribution to feminist activism in the area during this period. According to [Sharon] Callaghan et al., the colourful posters and productions of 'Witchworks', a feminist based print collective, became a symbol of the early IWD [International Women's Day] marches demonstrating the importance of women's creativity and the control of their own information and publicity (WWIC Callaghan et al., 1995). The group's workshop and materials were based in a small garage at the WWIC. The collective does not appear to have been highly organised, rather 'people came and did their own thing' (Anniversary tapes, 29 July 1999). Records indicate the group was active until at least 1982. Sources include: Report from Witchworks to WWIC AGM November 1982, invoices (various dates 1982-84) and WWIC Anniversary tapes, 29 July 1999. Known members included (from an undated Witchworks phone list) Colleen Jones, Chris Bourke, Lynne Keene [?Keevers], Tracey Bright, Debbie McClosky, Heather McBeth, Robin McLaughlin, Anne Lefevre, Ros Gibbons, Rhonda Payne, Maree Faulkner, Jude McBean and Gizella Feher. (Lanyrie 2010)
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| Give Women Jobs, International Women's Day, Thursday March 4th [1982], Witchworks Posters, silkscreen poster. |
In addition, an unpublished manuscript by Lanyrie also exists, comprising notes on Witchworks compiled in association with the aforementioned thesis. The following account makes extensive use of those notes and is supplemented by contemporary interviews and correspondence with former members of the Collective and WWIC, including Lynne Keevers and Roby McLaughlin.
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| Women's Refuges, Witchworks, silkscreen poster, no date. |
Print collectives such as Witchworks, being mostly non-commercial and voluntary in nature, usually operated with little or no budget, relied on the goodwill of those involved, namely artists and assistants who may or may not have been elsewhere employed, and had little or no formal structure. The equipment used was often rudimentary and the art supplies and materials cheap or donated. Despite this, the quality of the output could be high, due to the skills and experience of those involved and the energy of the collective endeavour which, combined, added to the success of the various projects undertaken. Being outside the professional art system and often invisible to gallery networks and collecting institutions, the works produced by collectives such as Witchworks were highly ephemeral and rarely included any attribution. This, in large part, explains why little has been written or recorded to date.
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| Witchworks Benefit, Dance, Sat Oct 3 [1981], North Bulli Bush Band at Pioneer Hall, Church St, W'Gong in Macabe Park, Witchworks, silkscreen poster. |
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| Better housing for women and kids, International Women's Day March, Tuesday 6th March [1984], Witchworks, silkscreen poster. |
"A little Collective"
The Witchworks Print Collective was always a small operation. Initially carried out in the garage of the WWIC, it moved into the Sally Bowen Room (a demountable building) located behind the WWIC on Stewart Street, Wollongong. According to Keevers (pers. comm 2017), Witchworks artists later made use of the upgraded production facilities at Redback Graphix in Stewart Park, Wollongong. Witchworks and Redback were always separate entities - the former a community, activist-based Collective, and the latter a commercial operation focussed around the work of master printer Michael Callaghan, though both had a community focus and both were engaged in supporting similar causes and events, such as fund raisers, concerts and rallies. According to Keevers, Witchworks produced a variety of posters, booklets, banners and t-shirts. Initially the posters were printed with a silkscreen process which made use of simple paper stencils / cutouts. This nevertheless allowed for the application of brightly coloured inks and production of effects such as graded backgrounds. The latter can be seen in an undated Womens Centre poster (refer image below).
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| Womens Centre, 35 Stewart Street, Witchworks, silkscreen poster, n.d. |
The number of posters and other material printed at any one time varied - from in the 10s or 20s through to the 100s, dependent upon the issue or event, and the budget. For example, the t-shirt produced by Witchworks for the Pink Gap anti-nuclear campaign in 1983 was very successful and large numbers (400-500) were printed as part of the fund raising efforts for the women's protest camp at the site. The money also assisted with the sending of Wollongong supporters to the Northern Territory to take part in the protest. The quality of the output depended on the skill of the artist and printer, the materials used and the resources - including financial - available at the time.
Participants
A number of participants in Witchworks have been identified, from both WWIC archival sources and later interviews. They include artists, screen printers and general assistants. In some instances individual names have varied over time.
Bourke, Chris (deceased)
Bright, Tracey
Faulkner, Maree (deceased)
Feher, Gizella
Figner, Dimity (died 2016)
Gibbons, Ros (deceased)
Jones, Colleen [Colleen Buckland]
Keevers, Lynne
Lefevre, Anne
McBean, Jude
McBeth, Heather
McClosky, Debbie
McLaughlin, Robin
Payne, Rhonda
Thompson, Ruth
Wasson, Maria
Colleen Jones [Buckland] was apparently one of the main silkscreen printer's at Witchworks, though other participants such as Robin McLaughlin were highly skilled in graphic design and printing. Jones, for example, trained volunteers such as Lynne Keevers and also assisted a number of people working with the Illawarra Area Medical Service worker's health promotions unit set up by Glenn Mitchell at the University of Wollongong in 1984. The aim of this group was to produce promotional material relating to women's health issues. A number of Witchworks participants were involved in this 6 month project, including Ruth Thompson. McLaughlin, in a similar vein, worked beyond the confines of Witchworks with organisations such as the South Coast Labour Council, Illawarra mine workers auxiliaries, trade unions, and political groups such as the Communist Party of Australia.
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| A woman's place is everywhere, International Women's Day, Wollongong 1983, Witchworks, silkscreen poster. |
Events
Witchworks posters and related promotional materials were produced for a variety of local political and social campaigns, along with promoting issues such as domestic violence and the need for shelters. One prominent campaign was the now famous Jobs for Women protest which arose when the BHP steelworks sacked a number of female workers during a period of staff cuts in 1984. Posters were also produced for the Women's Health Centre and the Wollongong Mobile Information Service. Banners were produced for groups such as the Southern District Miners Women's Auxiliary. Lanyrie lists Witchworks involvement in some of the following events:
- Peace march poster, 1982
- Uniting Church poster for Clive Dominique (Donnelly)
- Hiroshima Day march - placards
- International Women's Day posters
- Southern District Miners Women's Auxiliary poster
- CAP poster
- Dynasty violence poster
- Miscellaneous Workers Union banner
- Joy for the Jaded program
Lynne Keevers recalls observing the Redback Graphix collaboration with an Aboriginal artist from Northern Australia as part of the CAAMA campaign.
Street Theatre group
Witchworks was closely associated throughout its life with the Wollongong Feminist Street Theatre Group, producing promotional material for each of their performances. The drama group "interpreted current situations in the light of how they specifically affected women" (Lanyrie 2010). The related Witchworks posters reflect this subject matter and activity. Some posters advertising performances by the group were included in the exhibition of work by the later Dimity Fignar - a Witchworks artist - held at the Shoalhaven Arts Centre in 2016. Witchworks was also recently referenced by the Cross Art Project in its Future Feminist Archive series (2016). Therein artists Alison Adler and Mini Graff reflected on the work of Illawarra feminists and artists from the 1970s and 1980s, producing new works as a result.
Dissolution
The Witchworks Print Collective appears to have ceased working around the end of 1984. According to Lynne Keevers the end came about - at least in part - as a result of the changes in technology and increasing use of computer methods in the production of posters and other promotional materials for community events and issues. In general, Witchworks existed during an exciting period of Wollongong's history, at a time of social change and upheaval brought about in large part by a downturn in the steel and manufacturing industries within the Illawarra, with resultant job losses across the board and rising unemployment. Opportunities for activism were many and varied, and Witchworks was evidence of this. The nature of a "Collective" at the time meant that it was democratic, the works anonymous and produced co-operatively, with the end product functional, topical and ephemeral. The posters, banners and leaflets were rarely commodified - an exception being, for example, the Pine Gap t-shirt - though collectors were on hand, both close and distant. There are commonly stories of posters being pulled down by collectors shortly after they were posted, and not just in regards to Witchworks but more widely. The works also reminded people of the events they participated in, such as rallies, marches, performances or musical concerts, and this led to additional opportunities for collecting.
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Appendices
1. Reminiscences by Robin McLaughlin
[The following has been compiled from email correspondence with the author during February 2017]
From early/mid 1982 and 1983 as part of Witchworks and as a freelance graphic designer I designed and printed silkscreen posters for Wollongong Women's Centre, Labour Day Picnic, No Dams Dance and I screen printed 100 placards on thin cardboard for the Hiroshima Day march 1983. I seem to recall involvement of the Wollongong Uniting Church & the minister Clive D. - they may have paid for the placards. I also designed and painted a large banner for Wollongong branch of the CPA (now in the State Library of New South Wales collection), designed and painted a banner for Coalcliff Darkes Forrest Mining Unions, a banner supporting the Fretlin and East Timor lecture tour (auspiced by the South Coast Labour Council I think) and cartoons for 'The Blast'. I also produced a black line drawing of the WWC house printed on dark green card which I think had contact details for the Women's Centre on the back. A lot of what Witchworks and the women involved did was not well documented, was rather ephemeral and the women involved ebbed and flowed. Looking back we were all very busy!
Ruth Thompson - I have been friends with Ruth Thompson since about 1974 through our involvement with New Theatre, located at 542 King Street Newtown from the early 1970s. Ruth moved to Wollongong in late 1979 or early 1980 and set up, with several others, a left wing union and Communist Party Australia (CPA) supported community theatre group called 'Bread and Circus'. I was involved in the early planning (funding submissions), designed the logo and printed t-shirts for the group while still living in Sydney. I stayed living in Sydney and working as paid production manager at New Theatre from August 1979 until early to mid 1982 when I moved to the Illawarra (Austinmer). Ruth was coordinator at the Wollongong Women's Centre (WWC) for some period in the 1980s.
Ros Gibbons was active on the WWC committee at some stage in the 1980s and also early on quite active in the 'Free Georgia Hill' campaign/s. Georgia who lived in Stanwell Park, was a victim of extreme domestic violence and was in prison for killing her violent partner. There were some fund raising events in support of Georgia and her legal costs around this time. …. Her sister Jenny Stewart was community worker at the WWC and I think was coordinator at some point too. Ros worked at Wollongong Youth Housing from the mid to late eighties and was involved with the Youth Refuge and I think Women's Housing too.
Dimity Figner - there is a poster done by Dimity for a Wollongong women's satirical comedy theatre production (Wollongong Women's Performing Group) circa mid to late 1980s. Ruth Thompson was director and I did props & lighting. Performers included Lynne Keevers, Sue Edmonds, Kaye Johnston and others. It was called 'Mary's Xmas Pudding'.
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| Dimity Figner, Mary's Xmas Pudding, poster, 24 November 1984. |
I'm not sure if they would be classed as being done as part of the Witchworks collective as I don't know if Dimity printed them at home or at the Wollongong Women's Centre or somewhere else... People just knew each other, or knew of each other in Wollongong women's services, left wing unions, CPA, various community services, South Coast Labour Council etc. If someone wanted something done like a poster, flyer, banner or placards one of us would be asked if we could do it (depending upon who was available, we all had jobs/study &/or kids mostly). Where it would be produced might vary depending upon the space required (e.g. if it was a large banner) or if the artist had the equipment & materials at home themselves or needed to use the space and equipment at the Women's Centre. Dimity also produced posters and flyers for several other events including Moruya Women's Music Festival.
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| Dimity Figner,South Coast Women's Music Festival, poster, October 1983. |
I think they may have been done as felt pen drawings then photocopied and coloured with felt pen later (the blue & black coloured one in the photo looks like blue highlighter pen). The poster by Dimity for 'The Awful Truth Show' dates from October 1978 and predates Dimity's involvement in Witchworks as does the purple women's symbol which was designed for Sydney IWD posters and t-shirts printed around or before 1978.
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| Dimity Figner,The Awful Truth Show, poster, 20-21 October 1978. |
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| Dimity Figner, International Women's Year, circa 1975. Design for a poster entitled International Women's Year: repeal all abortion laws: demonstrate December 6. |
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Catalogue of Works
Posters
1. Colleen Jones, End the silence about domestic violence
Silkscreen poster, 51 x 83 cm, no date. Text printed into image "End the Silence / about Domestic / Violence / Witchworks Posters / Wollongong / [women's symbol] s Centre / Action Against Domestic Violence / Ph 281683". Collection: Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. Catalogue number 2000/69/12. The poster was donated in 2000 by Deborah Mills, Senior Project Officer, Community Arts Board (CAB), Australia Council 1980-1987 and Director, Community Cultural Development Board (CCDB), Australia Council, 1987-1993.Artist identified as Colleen Jones by Lynne Keevers (2017). Description: Rectangular poster promoting the end to Domestic Violence silence. The poster was printed in a vertical format using yellow, red and green ink with black detailing. It features an illustration of a woman and man in front of a kitchen window, with the man about to strike the woman with one hand whilst he has hold of her hair with the other.
2. Bulli Bush Band dance, 1981.3. Give women jobs, International Women's Day, 4 March 1982.
4. A woman's place is everywhere, International Women's Day, 3 March 1983.
5. Better housing for women and kids, International Women's Day, 6 March 1984.
6. Womens Centre, n.d.
Banners
Wollongong Womens Centre, n.d., blue ink on red cloth with white edging.
T-shirts
Pine Gap, protest, 1983.
Booklets / Pamphlets
[No details]
Acknowledgements
In the compilation of this blog I would especially like to thank Frances Lanyrie for providing access to her research into Witchworks; Sharon Callaghan, who was an active member of the WWIC during the period in question, and remains active to this day; Lynne Keevers, a member of Witchworks between 1982-4, has been of assistance in contacting former members and providing her own stories; and Robin McLaughlin, who provided detailed reminiscences in regards to a number of Witchworks participants and related activities./p>
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References
Callaghan, Sharon, Interview with the author, 1 February 2017.
Future Feminist Archive, part of the Cross Art Project, University of New South Wales College of the Performing Arts, Sydney, 2016.
Keevers, Lynne, Interview with the author, 3 February 2017.
Lanyrie, Frances, Feminist history in Wollongong: information for researchers, Illawarra Unity, 2002.
-----, Between class and gender: female activists in the Illawarra 1975-1980, PhD thesis, Department of Management, Auckland University of Technology, 2010, 311p.
-----, Witchworks Notes, unpublished, n.d., 5p.
Mayhew, Louise, Jill Posters will be Prosecuted: Australia's women-only print collectives from the 1970s and 1980s, Impact7: Intersections and Counterpoints conference, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, September 2011.
McLaughlin, Robin, Reminiscences, email correspondence with the author, February 2017.
Shaw, Jonathan, Dimity Figner, Me fail? I fly! [blog], 30 April 2016. Available URL: https://shawjonathan.com/2016/04/30/dimity-figner/.
Yuill, Katie, Girls at the Tin Sheds: Sydney Feminist Posters 1975-90, University Art Gallery, University of Sydney, March 2015, 72p.
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Michael Organ, Australia
Last updated: 28 December 2023
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