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Art of the Week & fundraising editions for @progintl_en by Arts & Culture Coordinator @chezarasera

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@greendreamerkamea's limited edition artwork for @progintl_en captured in a loving home in Berlin calling for a future of collective liberation, sitting on a piano along with beautiful works by @alvaro_urbano.

Support Progressive International's important diplomatic work, including the coordination of The Hague Group by buying a limited edition at:

workshop.progressive.international/collections/limited-editions taken in Berlin, Germany by @artworkersunite

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a year ago

Thieves in the Forest by @varunika.saraf for @progintl_en is a reproduction of her large watercolour painting on Wasli, a type of paper prominent in the Mughal era. Multiple figures throughout Saraf’s forest, which measures almost three meters wide, represent our collective complacency.

Saraf explained: “It is not immediately apparent [the characters throughout the painting] are the oppressed, the oppressors, or spectators bearing silent witness” to the transformation of Indigenous lands.

Varunika Saraf (1981, India) is an artist and art historian based in Hyderabad. Inspired by Eduardo Galeano, who implores us to search for the keys in history to explain our time, Saraf’s works draw on various archival sources to engage in a conceptual dialogue with the present.

This artwork is part of a series of limited-edition artworks on Indigenous creative resistance, curated by @czblomfield for @progintl_en. Proceeds from the sale of this poster go towards Progressive International.

Buy an edition:
workshop.progressive.international

#ProgressiveInternational by @artworkersunite

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2 years ago

LINK IN BIO 🇨🇺 The Progressive International is honoured to reissue posters commissioned by the Palestinian-Cuban Friendship Association from 1989 by Marc Rudin (1945–2023) to coincide with the Nuestra América Convoy to Cuba, inspired by the Global Sumud Flotilla.

Buy an edition to support our work at workshop.progressive.international

#ProgressiveInternational by @artworkersunite

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6 months ago

Art of the Week: Caetano Veloso, Estrangeiro, 1989

PI @progintl_en Briefing No. 30 | Nobody’s Backyard

Caetano Veloso is a celebrated Brazilian musician, writer, and political activist, notable for his work in the Tropicalia movement with whom he shared an anti-authoritarian political position. In 1968, Veloso with Gilberto Gil performed in Rio de Janeiro, where they displayed an artwork by Hélio Oiticica’s depicting his friend Cara de Cavalo, who was gunned down in a favela by the police, along with the phrase seja marginal, seja herói: ‘be an outlaw, be a hero.’

This, along with alleged singing of the national anthem in the Tropicalia style, led to his arrest and later exile of Gil and Veloso. The album Estrangeiro (Foreigner) grappled with the concept of being a stranger both artistically and geographically. Mixing musical styles, he hoped to reach a global audience through the album which was produced by Arto Lindsay. The album artwork is by Arthur Fróes and Luciano Figueiredo.

Read the briefing here: https://progressive.international/wire/2026-10-02-pi-briefing-no-30-nobodys-backyard/en/

Progressive International’s weekly Briefing is sent to over 120,000 readers in five languages, sharing stories and critical updates from the frontlines of the global struggle.

Support Progressive International by buying a limited edition today: workshop.progressive.international by @artworkersunite

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18 hours ago

Art of the Week: Medu Art Ensemble members Tim Williams, Wally Serote, and Sergio-Albio Gonzalez print the poster ‘Unity Is Power’ in Gaborone, Botswana, 1979.

@progintl_en Briefing No. 29 | From Law to Justice

Medu Art Ensemble (1979–1985, Gaborone, Botswana) was a Pan-African, multiracial, and anti-colonial collective of over 60 cultural activists including musicians, performance artists, writers, and poets. Medu means roots in Sepedi. Most Medu cultural workers were South African, having been forced into exile following the deadly Soweto uprising. They played a significant role in defining cultural resistance to apartheid through exhibitions, educational events, and poster production.

In 1976, Soweto was the site of various school protests against learning in Afrikaans, the “language of the oppressor.” Estimates suggest there were as many as 700 fatalities among the 20,000 students who took part in the protests. Teresa Devant was one of the first white international artists to join the Ensemble, photographing the events and organising activities, including the printing of the Unity is Power poster in 1979. The image rights holder is Freedom Park, accessed via the UCLA Digital Library.

Read the briefing here: https://progressive.international/wire/2026-09-30-pi-briefing-no-29-from-law-to-justice/en/

Progressive International’s weekly Briefing is sent to over 120,000 readers in five languages, sharing stories and critical updates from the frontlines of the global struggle.

Support Progressive International by buying a limited edition today: workshop.progressive.international taken in Gaborone, Botswana by @artworkersunite

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a day ago

Art of the Week: Julià Panadès, beach altars, 2021 (from the ongoing series)

PI @progintl_en Briefing No. 26 | Fortress Europe

Julià Panadès (@juliapanades) is a Mallorcan artist working with found detritus, often washed up on the Mediterranean island. He has described this as archaeological, noting that some bottles and lids he finds have Arabic and Tunisian origins; his materials and working methods relate to a precarity and impermanence.

The Balearic Islands have a deep relationship with the threat of invasion. The Honderos Baleares, Balearic slingers, indigenous to the Balearic Islands, were ancient warriors who fought in the Punic Wars from 264 BC, while today there is increasing outcry against colonial tourism.

Read the briefing here: https://progressive.international/wire/2026-08-31-pi-briefing-no-26-fortress-europe/en/

Progressive International’s weekly Briefing is sent to over 120,000 readers in five languages, sharing stories and critical updates from the frontlines of the global struggle.

Support Progressive International by buying a limited edition today: workshop.progressive.international taken in Mallorca, Islas Baleares, Spain by @artworkersunite

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a month ago

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a month ago

Art of the Week: Motyko (@motyk0), What remains of a land?, 2023

PI @progintl_en Briefing | No. 15 | Red Alert for Cuba

Motyko is a Honduran Cuban American multidisciplinary artist from Tequesta-Seminole land, Miami, working in collage, film and poetry to “fight for a world where our people are free, where community care exists above profit, and where we’ve shattered colonial restrictions on what’s possible.”

This work was created to highlight those fighting against the extractive industry in Honduras, asking: “What remains of a land after its people are forced to abandon it? After commodification and exploitation…? Motyko’s multimedia works have also covered issues including gentrification, immigration, workers’ rights, and the Palestinian liberation and BDS movements. Motyko encourages us to “support environmental defenders and lean into your cultural sustainability practices.”

Read the briefing here: https://progressive.international/wire/2026-05-23-pi-briefing-no-15-red-alert-for-cuba/en/

Progressive International’s weekly Briefing is sent to over 120,000 readers in five languages, sharing stories and critical updates from the frontlines of the global struggle.

Support Progressive International by buying a limited edition today: workshop.progressive.international
Sign up to receive the briefing to your inbox: progressive.international by @artworkersunite

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4 months ago

Art of the Week: Francis Bebey – Africa Sanza, 1982

PI @progintl_en Briefing | No. 14 | France’s New African Front

Francis Bebey (1929, Douala) was a Cameroonian-French musicologist, writer, and composer. He is said to be the first African musician to use electric keyboards and programmable drum machines, alongside traditional African instruments including the ndehu (Pygmy bamboo flute) and the sanza (thumb piano).

In 1957, he was invited by the political theorist and revolutionary Kwame Nkrumah to be a broadcaster in Ghana, and from 1961 to 1974 he worked for UNESCO, becoming the head of the music department in Paris. His music includes lyrics that challenged Western perspectives on Africans, for example, in New Track: “Have you noticed that everybody is complaining about the system” continuing “We need a change to come, a new order, Cultural, political, economically…”

Read the briefing here: https://progressive.international/wire/2026-05-18-pi-briefing-no-14-frances-new-african-front/en/

Progressive International’s weekly Briefing is sent to over 120,000 readers in five languages, sharing stories and critical updates from the frontlines of the global struggle.

Support Progressive International by buying a limited edition today: workshop.progressive.international

Sign up to receive the briefing to your inbox: progressive.international taken in Nairobi, Kenya by @artworkersunite

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4 months ago

Art of the Week: Gardens Media Group at Community Arts Project, Cape Town, 1989

PI @progintl_en Briefing | No. 12 | Hands that hold the world

MAYDAY IS OURS! was the unifying call of five posters celebrating May Day created by various artists, including Justin Wells and Billy Mandandini, as part of Gardens Media Group, made at Community Arts Project, Cape Town, 1989.

The Community Arts Project was a community arts centre in Cape Town, South Africa, founded in 1977 to provide accommodation, facilities, and training to aspiring artists, particularly those marginalised by apartheid. From 1986, the trade union movement in South Africa called general strikes each May Day. Images courtesy of the South African History Archive (SAHA) as part of their series on Images of Defiance, South African resistance posters of the 1980s and beyond.

Read the briefing here: https://progressive.international/wire/2026-05-01-pi-briefing-no-12-hands-that-hold-the-world/en/

Progressive International’s weekly Briefing is sent to over 120,000 readers in five languages, sharing stories and critical updates from the frontlines of the global struggle.

Support Progressive International by buying a limited edition today: workshop.progressive.international
Sign up to receive the briefing to your inbox: progressive.international by @artworkersunite

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5 months ago

On 17, June 2022 I purchased this talisman from Haitian artist Jean Muller Milord @artistjeanmullermilord in Kassel during the opening of Documenta 15.

Several artists had made makeshift stalls in the grounds surrounding the St. Kunigundis Church where the Haitian collective Atis Rezistans presented Ghetto Biennale, focusing on sculpture, vodou-influenced assemblage, and social critique.

Jean and I have remained in contact and sometimes he asks for support for personal matters and for his makeshift art school where he helps children paint and, when he can, feeds them.

For years I’ve meant to extend his ask - today I am finally doing so as one of his family requires medical care (costing 20,000 Haitian dollars - about £115).

In the past I’ve sent money via Western Union. If anyone wants to help I can share the info directly. Please DM.

Thank you 🙏🏻 by @artworkersunite

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6 months ago

Art of the Week: Hamza Badran, A Contribution to the Royal Tropical Institute, 2025

PI @progintl_en Briefing | No. 7 | Oil Rains Over Tehran

The Wood Library at Amsterdam’s Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) is a “scientific” catalogue once used by Dutch merchants to evaluate timber from former colonies. A section labelled “Israel, 1962,” holds wood from various regions of historical Palestine, erasing the existence of Palestinian land and territories.

In May 2025, Palestinian artist Hamza Badran anonymously infiltrated the library by placing a fictitiously labelled piece of wood, having studied the collection’s handwriting and forms. Badran’s action criticises the ongoing falsification of history through colonial artefacts and objects, despite the museum’s position acknowledging its colonial past.

Hamza Badran (1993, Palestine) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Basel, and currently an artist-in-residence at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten. In 2023, he won the Kiefer Hablitzel Göhner Art Prize, and in 2022, he was included in documenta fifteen as part of the collective Jimmie Durham and a Stick in the Forest by the Side of the Road.

Read the briefing here: https://progressive.international/wire/2026-03-13-pi-briefing-no-7-oil-rains-over-tehran/en/

Progressive International’s weekly Briefing is sent to over 120,000 readers in five languages, sharing stories and critical updates from the frontlines of the global struggle.

Support Progressive International by buying a limited edition today: workshop.progressive.international

Sign up to receive the briefing to your inbox: progressive.international taken in Amsterdam by @artworkersunite

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7 months ago