In the heyday of posters (1940-60) nearly every piece was a work of art, produced by all the famous artists of the West. They are collector pieces, especially works by Pablo Picaso, Joan Miro, Andy Warhol and Escobar Marisol which are considered priceless. If the recent exhibition at the Arts Council is a specimen of poster making today, I was able to spot only two among the 100 which could one day become collector pieces. A graphic art work by Igor Dukic (USA) and by Teresa Moreira (Portugal).
Ofcourse, the real worth of any poster is not as a work of art, but should be judged in the context of the specific publicity campaign to which it belongs. In this context I would rate the recent exhibition a huge success. Its theme was: 2012-Gender Equality Now! An independent, non-profit organisation whose goal is to encourage people both in and outside the design community and stimulate debate on issues that affect us all optimistically calls itself 'Poster for tomorrow'. Its Pakistan chapter, the Arts Council Karachi and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Karachi organised the exhibition. Actually 3020 entries were received from 105 countries for the poster design contest. 100 of the best were shown in Karachi.
How much awareness can posters create for gender issues? I am afraid, not much, since posters are no longer publically viewed by being pasted on street walls, school and college corridors, shop windows, bookshops and Ofcourse art galleries. The limited circulation of poster has drastically limited its impact. But posters can still work their magic, creating public opinion if posters were once again pasted on street walls. They could be most effective in our villages where literacy is low and where a few words and an engaging image could create awareness for issues, where the bombast of politicians or a thousand words of a journalistic report cannot. Even in a city like Karachi there is little motivation of public to be active for gender equality.
From the first crude posters produced during the French Revolution (1789), through the two world wars, birth of communism and socialism ideology and the promotion of consumer goods such as Coca Cola, all posters were directed to creating mass support for a cause, whether noble or commercial. Posters prompted, even forced, the public to participate. Modern posters do not motivate the viewer to action. They do create awareness of issues but awareness does not produce action.
In Pakistan, while there is awareness of gender issues peculiar to the country, such as karo-kari, education of the girlchild, acid attacks and so forth, the only thing the publicity has generated is public sympathy. We need to be shown what we can do to end the evil besetting our society. Until everyone participates there will never be an end to heinous practices. And I believe the poster is the best medium for the job, since that is built in the poster genre.
Today, public opinion through visual imagery is produced through large, colourful and attractive billboards. But the only thing they motivate us to do is go but the latest fabric and designer outfit. Television advertising is also wholly consumer motivating. The street at eyelevel is a space ignored. That is where posters make their impact. That is the space in which the small, usually three feet by two feet poster board fits.
The poster is also history in brief. Historians of sociology have found it an excellent source of social culture, of how the common man thinks, what motivated him to take up arms, or champion the cause of Peace and what were consumer trends. Modern history-writing is about people, not kings and potentates.
Looking at the Gender Equality Now! Posters, I tried to imagine what a modern historian would note from the exhibits. Perhaps the first thing he or she would note is lack of good taste. The poster announcing the poster exhibition showed Che Guavera with his lips painted red and green eyeshadow. His face is pink as if it was covered in makeup. Che, for my generation, was an icon of masculinity. We were not really into his type of politics but he was every teenager's hero. Making him look like a transvestite was in bad taste. It did not convey the message of Gender Equality Now! You don't want men to look like hijras.
Another thing they would note is the West's stereo typing of Muslims. Nearly all the posters showing veiled women, projecting the issue of genital mutilation and other such issues were in posters created by graphic artists from Mexico, Argentina, Hungary, Korea where the issues are irrelevant to their society.
A third point of note is ignorance of history. One poster from UK showed a man in working-class cap while the message was that men didn't have to fight for their rights (meaning that women have had to). To think that the poster was from a country where the working-class had to fight bitterly for their rights is the height of historic ignorance. The poster failed to support the cause of gender equality, as a consequence. It is ridiculous to create a "them" and "us" point of view. Gender equality does not mean such a useless defeatist attitude.
In short, there was not much that was truly thought-provoking even though one cannot deny the excellence of artwork of each and every poster that was displayed. The only great comment was Bella Abzig's: We are comming down from the pedestal and up from the laundry room. How many rights activists ever think about the fact that putting women on a pedestal was as hampering to effort to win equal rights as was the relegation of working women to menial household chores?