Article 21 - 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 21
Article 21 stipulates that the will of the people must be the basis of government authority, and everyone has the right to participate in government “directly or through freely chosen representatives”. The article calls for periodic, legitimate elections by universal suffrage and secret ballot, and also establishes that everyone has “the right to equal access to public service”. The article does not include the word “democracy” - which does not appear anywhere in the UDHR, except in a reference to a “democratic society” in Article 29 because after World War II, the term “democracy” was rooted in the Cold War’s ideological disputes, with the Soviet bloc and Western countries interpreting the concept in different ways. In making the core elements of democracy a fundamental human right, Article 21 reflects the UDHR’s preamble that “it is essential” that human rights be protected by the rule of law so that “man is not compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression”.