Seed Pods of Democracy

The Democracy Poster Project explores the value of democracy and human rights through the visual art medium of posters, and proposes ways that design can act as a voice for participation in society. The Democracy Poster Project team (director Moon Jung Jang, along with curators Kyungwon Kim and Yumi Kang) contacted designers, illustrators, and visual artists around the world who have consistently expressed interest in issues of democracy and human rights, and who could disseminate these messages concisely and accurately through poster work. In response, 51 participating artists (or teams of artists) crafted messages in different visual languages, producing 100 new posters and generating accompanying texts. Participating artists acutely point out the reality of democracy’s retreat across various times and spaces and constantly ask questions about the causes. In addition, they address the core values of democracy such as equality, diversity of existence, and minority human rights, as well as structural discrimination and violence against women, the right to movement of the disabled, the right to work in a humane environment, and the right of refugees and immigrants to be respected. Their thoughts and expressions about resistance to the advancement of democracy and human rights, freedom through struggle, and methods for open empathy and solidarity continue to form complex and solid links. Participating artists include designers and visual artists who represent the voice of the here and now through their various works and exhibitions at major art museums, including Karo Akpokiere, Kim Albrecht, Jonathan Barnbrook, Melinda Beck, Diana Ejaita, Mark Gowing, Guerrilla Girls, High on Type, Saki Ho, Minho Kwon, Sang Mun, This Ain’t Rock’n’Roll, Garth Walker, Kateryna Korolevtseva, Elaine Lopez, Studio Rejane Dal Bello, and others from around the world. Participants also include illustrators of social and cultural issues for influential media outlets and organizations such as The Guardian, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Amnesty International. In addition, the writings of invited authors Jung Keun-Sik, Kim Sang-kyu, Keiko Sei, and Ezio Manzini have also been compiled to ponder the questions “How do we represent issues of violence in movements for democracy and human rights?” “What does it mean to visually remember a history of violence by the state, and what are the possibilities and limitations of such visual expression?” “Where is activism currently taking place in visual culture and today?” and “What can design do for democracy?” The Democracy Poster Project team hopes that these seeds pods of democracy and human rights brought out by the participating artists and authors will spread through the hands of readers and once again create new, green life. All texts are included in Korean and English. This impressive publication was published to accompany the Democracy Poster Project, one of the programs marking the opening of the National Museum of Korean Democracy. The National Museum of Korean Democracy opens in 2024 as a new cultural space which adds exhibition and educational facilities to the preserved Anti-Communist Investigation Office in Namyeong-dong in Korea, once the site of—and a continuing symbol of—human rights abuses and state violence. With texts by Jung Keun-Sik, Kim Sang-kyu, Ezio Manzini, and Keiko Sei Designed by 213ho Published by eeunbook, 2024 Bilingual, in English and Korean Softcover, 416 pages, color images, 5.75 × 9.5 inches ISBN: 979-1-19-105340-1