Brutal Bricks

The building of the Barbican Estate began in 1963. During its construction, the site workers repeatedly went out on strike, fighting for greater protection of wages, and health and safety standards. Industrial history can be hard to engage with. It’s not typically glamorous or exciting, and the real-life impacts of industrial action on families and communities are often lost amongst statistics and academic language. 
These posters are intentionally provocative. By displaying original archive material out of context, they present more questions than answers to the audience, inviting them to engage with the working-class histories involved in building the Barbican. 
Stories of discrimination within the Barbican aren’t just historic. In June 2021, Barbican Stories was published, ‘a collection of first hand and witnessed accounts of discrimination at the Barbican Centre, written anonymously by current and former employees who have experienced racism.’
These works are about class struggle, the representation of working-class stories and the communities that built the same institution that often financially and socially excludes them.