politicalgraphics
Jul 2, 20212 min
Updated: Jul 14, 2021
Following the 1967 War, the Israeli government passed a law banning the Palestinian flag in Gaza and the West Bank. Thirteen years later the law was expanded to prohibit the inclusion of the flag’s colors in artwork. The law, in effect until 1993, clearly limited Palestinian freedom of expression and attempted to deny Palestinian identity.
David Tartakover, an award winning artist, designer, curator, and political activist, used the colors of the Palestinian flag for this poster. Considered one of the most outstanding graphic designers in Israel, Tartakover was awarded the Israel Prize laureate for Design in 2002. He has been designing posters opposing the occupation of Palestine for decades.
“I am a local designer. My relationship with the place where I live is an inseparable part of my work. This relationship is cultural, social and political. In the 1980’s, I began to initiate, design and produce personal posters dealing with my society and its politics, relating mainly to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its effect on Israeli society. These posters are instantaneous reactions to occurrences and developments, and are quick and cheap to make. They are characterized by the use of newspaper photographs, Xerox copying and direct juxtaposition of text and image. This area of my work, in which I initiate and produce my own messages, not for commercial purposes but from a personal need, is the most important part of my entire practice. In the 1920s, Avigdor Hameiri wrote, “Freedom of opinion is not a right but a duty.” Living in a place fraught with conflicts between Arab and Jew; religious and secular; right and left, I attempt to fulfill this duty by making straightforward images, though they may often be painful to me, and cause pain to others.”
– David Tartakover
Stop the War
End the Occupation
Stop the Evictions
Sources:
The Politics of Place: An Evening with Israeli Graphic Designer & Activist David Tartakover
Israel Prized to Ran Carmi and David Tartakover