Artists Union, Paris Commune, The Destruction of the Vendme Column, May 1871

William Morris and the Socialist League, 1885

Vhutemas, May 1st Banners, 1919

Model of Tatlins Monument to the Third International used in May 1st 1925 demonstration, St. Petersburg

Yakov Guminer, May 1st, lithograph, 1928

Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo march with artists on May Day, Mexico City, May 1, 1929. Photo by Tina Modotti

Front page of A-I-Z, n 17,1931. Photography: Tina Modotti

Artist Union, New York, 1935

Stuart Davis and Roselle Springer among Artists' Union demonstrators, Division IX, May Day Parade, Communist Party route, New York City, May 1st, 1935

Atelier Populaire, May 68 - The Beginning of a Prolonged Struggle, posterAnonymous poster, The police post themselves at the School of Fine Arts the Fine Arts' students poster the streets, May 1968

Art Workers Coalition (AWC), 1969

The Puerto Rican Art Workers Coalition (PRAWC), 1970

Women Artists in Revolution (WAR), 1971

PASTA (Professional and Administrative Staff Association) of The Museum of Modern Art on strike with members of the AWC, 1973

Artists Meeting for Cultural Change, 1975

The refusal to labour is the chief weapon of workers fighting the system; artists can use the same weapon. To bring down the art system it is necessary to call for years without art, a period of three years - 1977 to 1980 - when artists will not produce work, sell work, permit work to go on exhibitions, and refuse collaboration with any part of the publicity machinery of the art world. This total withdrawal of labor is the most extreme collective challenge that artists can make to the state. The years without art will see the collapse of many private galleries. Museums and cultural institutions handling contemporary art will be severely hit, suffer loss of funds, and will have to reduce their staff. National and local government institutions will be in serious trouble. Art magazines will fold. The international ramifications of the dealer/museum/publicity complex make for vulnerability; it is a system that is keyed to a continuous juggling of artists, finance, works and information - damage one part, and the effect is felt world-wide.

Gustav Metzger, Art Strike(1977-1980), 1977

Art Strike Action Committee (SF), 1989

Jakob Jakobsen, Unionising Workshop, 2004

May Day Congress of Creative Workers, May 2010, Moscow

November 10, 2010: National Day of Action, London

Espace Temporaire, art laboratory for collective actions, May Day, 2010, Geneva

Anti-Cuts Activists Disrupt Sothebys Contemporary Art Auction, February 2011

May Congress of Creative Workers, 2011, Moscow

M1ArtStrike! Coallition, May 2011

Art Workers UNITE!, published in Artist Bloc, 2011

Rally "Casa 13 en Casa 13" towards the City of Arts, December 2011. Crdoba, Argentina

Jason Cieply, May Day posters and banners, 2012

Mayday 2012 Casa 13's open house day. Radio broadcast and replanting of a tree. Crdoba, Argentina.

Ulf Aminde Strike: Opera #3,Museum of Contemporary Art Leipzig December 2013

KURS, 71%* of young artists does not have enough funds to purchase materials for the work (*Republic of Serbia Institute for Statistics)KURS, 59%* of young artists are engaged with other work in order to fill their own budget (*Republic of Serbia Institute for Statistics)

Mayday 2013 Casa 13's open house day. Press conference. Crdoba, Argentina.

Artists Union England launch, May 1st, 2014

School of Engaged Art Chto Delat?, St. Petersburg, May 1st, 2014

MAY DAY | TODO BAJO CONTROL is an exploration of art as a "labour of love" ("por amor al arte") and the reframing of cultural production as a site of labour, struggle, wages and organization. May 1st, 2014, Boston, MA.

Mayday 2014 Casa 13's open house day. Reading club, assembly mapping and release of new version of L'Internationale (concert). Crdoba, Argentina.