Article 30 - 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 30
The idea of the indivisibility of rights is at the core of Article 30. These rights are inherent to all and cannot be hierarchized or exercised in isolation. As seen in Article 28, the Declaration can be envisioned as the portico of a Greek temple. Take away any element, and the portico falls. In this analogy suggested by René Cassin are Articles 28, 29 to 30, which unite the whole structure. Article 30 has been called “limits on tyrants”. It frees all of us from personal or state interference with respect to the rights referenced in all the aforementioned articles. However, it also emphasizes that we cannot exercise these rights in contravention of the purposes of the UN.