In Cape Town during the 1980s, the Community Arts Project (CAP) Media unit, later known as Media Works, was a key component of the larger CAP organization, focusing on producing posters, banners, and T-shirts for political and cultural events, particularly those related to the anti-apartheid struggle. It emerged from a poster workshop established after the 1982 Culture and Resistance Conference in Gaborone that some of us attended. The Media unit became a major force in creating visual materials for protests and community events, and some of its prominent members included Jon Berndt, Trish de Villiers, Lionel Davis, and Gaby Cheminais.

In the mid 80’s the Gardens Media Group assisted in establishing the t-shirt printing component of CAP’s Media Unit at Community House in Salt River. Two of our members were permanently employed there.

Most of the t-shirts illustrated here were designed by our members and most were printed at The Media Unit as well. There were plenty others that we designed and printed over the years that we have not documented. These were various May Day, Youth Day and Women’s Day rally t-shirts. Fallen comrades memorial t-shirts. Funeral marshal t-shirts. Striking worker t-shirts and the like...