Article 6 - 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 6
Around a fourth of the Declaration is dedicated to legal human rights. Articles 6 through 11 are related and focus on some of the civil and political rights that all human beings should expect. Article 6 itself, however, applies to an entire spectrum of rights. If an individual is not recognized “as a person under the law”, various rights, including in the social and economic realms, may be threatened. Article 6 has come into focus with the phenomenon of forced or involuntary disappearances - a common practice in dictatorships of detaining and murdering people, leaving behind family members who are unable to determine the fate of their loved ones.