Article 14 - 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 14
In 1950, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was created. The agency was allotted three years to aid millions of Europeans who had fled or lost their homes during World War II and was to be dismantled subsequently. Decades later, the agency is still in operation, while the number of displaced people in the world exceeds 68 million. Of this total, 25 million are refugees who have crossed an international border, while 40 million are displaced within their own countries. The rest are asylum seekers - people who may or may not be defined as refugees. Article 14 of the UDHR guarantees the right to seek and benefit from asylum in cases of persecution. This right, in addition to the right to leave a country (Article 13) and the right to nationality (Article 15), can be traced directly to the Holocaust. The drafters of the UDHR came from countries that were aware they had rejected many Jewish refugees, possibly condemning them to death. Furthermore, many Jews, Roma and others persecuted by the Nazis could not escape from Germany to save their lives. Under the protection of Article 14, more fully articulated in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, millions of people have received protection as refugees for decades, being able to rebuild their lives and often return home after the danger has subsided.