Tuesday 28 March 2017

Human Rights Exhibition - Culture Quake II - BCOP100


For our second culture quake we focused on 'The Human Rights Act' (1998), which outlines 30 articles that state our basic human needs in order to live a free and equal life. I chose to focus on Article 15 which was:
1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
2) No one should be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

*click to enlarge*

The end goal of this weeks project was to create an exhibition of responses to each article. The original document of human rights uses very heavy language, in which many would not be able to process and understand properly. Therefore as illustrators, it would be our job to represent these rights in a visual way, which would teach others about the rights that we should have - as outlined by the United Nations. 

Originally I had thought about making a poster of people holding multiple flags, signifying which nationalities that they identify with:


However I wanted to make something more striking and something that would convey the message with more impact. So I decided to create a collection of small postcards, all with different animals that you would instantly associate with a certain nation (their homeland). However, I have given them different flags than what you would expect, which evokes thought in the observer. Furthermore, these flags can be swapped and changed, further conveying the message of Article 15, that everyone has 'the right to change his nationality'.




I chose animals as I felt like the connection between the character and a particular country would be more instant, than if I tried to illustrate a 'typical human' of a certain nation. I also chose to illustrate them on postcards, as they are something that travels between different countries - furthering the message. Also, by having an interactive element it makes my piece more memorable, and the choice of deciding which animal has what flag mirrors the choice that we all have as individuals - we are free to identify with a nationality of our choice. 

When looking around the exhibition at the end of the week, there were other pieces which particularly stood out to me as being very successful, one being a headscarf created by Zacky Hughes:


It is based on Article 18, which outlines our right to choose and express our religion in private and in public. The fabric of the headscarf itself has the words of the article printed in multiple different languages, displaying how the rights belong to everyone no matter their ethnicity or religious beliefs - all of this is showcased on a headscarf, which itself is an icon of religion.  

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