Communication through pictures has been in vogue ever since humans began hand-stenciling, sketching and painting on cave walls and ceilings almost 40,000 years ago. These early drawings obviously had a specific purpose of transmitting a message, a caution or an advice. Later in the years, signs and symbols of Mesopotamia followed by Egypt’s hieroglyphics and China’s pictograms further enriched the characteristics of communication. Today posters, a combination of art, craft and calligraphy are considered an effective means of communication as they can reach out to the masses instantly.

The Paris-based organisation ‘Poster for tomorrow’ held a worldwide poster competition based on the theme of ‘Right to healthcare’, as ingrained in Article 25 of the Declaration of Human Rights. Contesting designers therefore concentrated on three specific ideas: universal access to healthcare, eradication of immunisable diseases and access to drinking water. Subsequently, a live online jury was convened on Oct 9, 2015 at Poster for Tomorrow headquarters, Paris, where the jurors representing Pakistan were Durriya Kazi, Khuda Bux Abro and Hiba Siddiqi. The top 10 designers unanimously selected by the jury are Dariush Allahyari (Iran), Eva Chan (Belgium), Baron Chau (Australia), Leslie Chuquin (Ecuador), Elham Hemmat (Iran), Janani Iyer (India), Dhiya Khairina (South Korea), Martin Martinez (Canada), Selcuk Ozis (Turkey) and Baowen Zhang (China). 

Exhibition of 100 best posters out of 4,980 entries from over a 100 countries across the globe, was held concomitantly in various countries on Dec 10, 2015 — the International Human Rights Day. In Pakistan, spear-headed by visual artist Khuda Bux Abro, Poster for tomorrow (the local chapter), in collaboration with Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, this exhibition was inaugurated by the renowned human rights and peace activist Prof. S. Haroon Ahmed at The Second Floor (T2F) in Karachi.

In the contemporary world, posters, a combination of art, craft and calligraphy, are considered an effective means of communication

Eva Chan’s minimalist poster depicting a hospital’s emergency department at the centre of a labyrinth, rendered in a photoengraving’s halftone technique, carries an instantaneous message that there are numerous impediments to achieve life-saving treatment. The choice of medium of line drawing in black narrates the apathy associated with providing healthcare to the underprivileged. The poster needs no caption and is designed for direct communication.

Endorsed with a caption ‘A matter of luck’ the poster by Baowen Zhang is based on ‘guess where it is’ game with three inverted glasses and a pill. With its minimalist illustration, the poster conveys a reality of how provision of health care is left to serendipity, without any realisation of the consequence of delayed medical attention.

Dariush Allahyari’s poster representing two bullets with white pills at the primer combined with the caption ‘Sanctions are silent war’ manifests a profound global apprehension. Prejudiced discontinuation of trade with certain countries causes denial of life-saving drugs and critical pharmaceuticals which has a devastating effect on healthcare.

Juror and organiser Abro also expressed his concern regarding the absence of Pakistani entrants to this competition and adds, “A poster-making workshop will be held in Pakistan on the topic of ‘Death penalty’ and on its conclusion, selected posters will be sent abroad for competing in the next international exhibition expected before June 2016.”

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, December 20th, 2015