Article 13 - The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (English version)

This piece is part of a collection of 30 xylographs, produced by the multimedia artist Otávio Roth (1952-1993), that graphically express the content of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). The series took two years to reach completion, with each piece printed on handmade paper created by the artist himself. Driven by the desire to democratize access to the Charter, Otávio Roth synthesized its message in graphic pieces that facilitate the understanding and memorization of the Charter’s content.

Roth was the first living artist invited to exhibit at the United Nations. His prints have been on permanent display at UN headquarters in New York, Geneva and Vienna since 1981. In addition to the English series, the artist produced other series in Japanese, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian and Danish, using techniques as diverse as crayon, watercolor and pulp painting.

About Article 13
Article 13 guarantees freedom of movement. You should be able to travel within your own country and choose where to live, but this right is not absolute. Countries can limit the movement of people in their territories by confining them to their villages during an epidemic, or by preventing them from leaving their homes if they are threatened by a natural disaster, for example. But in order for this to occur, there must always be a greater public interest. Stemming from Article 13, the rights of internally displaced persons were more fully elaborated in the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.