Viva La Amistad – Marc Rudin Archive

Viva La Amistad – Marc Rudin ArchiveProgressive International is honoured to reissue this poster commissioned by the Palestinian Cuban Friendship Association in 1990 by Marc Rudin (19452023) to coincide with the Nuestra Amrica Convoy to Cuba, inspired by the Global Sumud Flotilla. Made by Rudin during his exile in Damascus, the poster, titled Viva La Solidaridad Cubano Palestina, is emblematic of the long standing solidarity between Cuba and Palestine. Motivated by Palestinian comrades

Progressive International is honoured to reissue this poster commissioned by the Palestinian-Cuban Friendship Association in 1990 by Marc Rudin (1945–2023) to coincide with the Nuestra América Convoy to Cuba, inspired by the Global Sumud Flotilla.

Made by Rudin during his exile in Damascus, the poster, titled Viva La Solidaridad Cubano-Palestina, is emblematic of the long-standing solidarity between Cuba and Palestine.

Motivated by Palestinian comrades he met in Italy in the late 1970s, Rudin travelled to Lebanon by fishing boat. In Beirut, he worked under the pseudonym Jihad Mansour for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), learned Arabic and developed his understanding of symbols, fonts and forms of Islamic culture.

While working for the PFLP, Rudin designed covers for the PFLP Bulletin, Democratic Palestine and Al-Hadaf, a weekly politics and culture magazine published in Gaza since 1969. During this time, he also designed dozens of posters in solidarity with political prisoners, for Workers’ Day, and honouring international solidarity between Palestine and Czechoslovakia, Japan and Nicaragua.

Having fought with the Palestinian resistance against the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, he was forced to flee to Damascus, where the Cuba-Palestine poster was envisioned using scarce resources. The use of single colour print was due to a “constant lack of money”, Rudin had said, giving the example of “the poster representing the Palestinian friendship with Cuba: the Cuban man waving his hat.” 

Of the artwork, Rudin continued to explain: “Shutting out the division of labour was perhaps the most fascinating thing: being in control of the whole process of production. The technical result, reached by simple means, always gave me great satisfaction.” 

Rudin continued his work in Damascus despite frequent blackouts, preferring to work in the early morning light until 1991, when the situation became increasingly uncertain. He sought refuge in Turkey, where he was arrested at the border. In 1992, Marc was extradited to Denmark, where he was sentenced to eight years in prison for robbery in support of the Palestinian resistance. 

From 1997 until 2011, Rudin taught graphic arts in Zurich, inspiring new generations of anti-imperialist activists while continuing his own work. Following a Parkinson's diagnosis in 2012, he died at the Limmat Health Centre in Zurich in April 2023. The re-edition of the poster was granted by those who were close to him to support Progressive International’s solidarity work.

Marc Rudin is a self-described “graphic artist, musician, friend and revolutionary”, stating that his “works stand for international solidarity.” This artwork is available for download, licensed under the Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0, at marcrudin.org where you can discover more about his life and work.

Reedition: A2, 420mm x 594mm (1990 Original: 490 mm × 695 mm) 

Museum-quality posters made on thick Japanese matte paper.

• Paper thickness: 0.26 mm (10.3 mil)
• Paper weight: 189 g/m²
• Opacity: 94%
• ISO brightness: 104%
• Paper sourced from Japan

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