Zapatista

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This term originally referred to the revolutionary guerrilla movement started by Emiliano Zapata around 1910, and his followers, who were called "Zapatistas." Throughout the years, Shepard Fairey has done many prints dealing with Zapatistas.

The Zapatistas to whom Shepard refers in his work are part of the new movement in Mexico, which began in 1994 and was lead by Subcomandante Marcos. Modern Zapatistas are fighting against the Mexican government because of years of unfair treatment of the people of Chiapas. Proceeds from Shepard's prints of the Zapatistas often go to their cause.

Shepard notes on the Marcos Collage large scale print:
"...10% of the sales of the Marcos imagery will go to the Chiapas Media Project which provides cameras to members of the Chiapas community to document the unjust actions of the Mexican Government soldiers. Without the media, the Zapatistas would have been violently erradicated without the rest of the world even knowing."

Prints containing Marcos/Zapatista imagery include the following: