Selections from Women's Rights Are Human Rights: International Posters on Gender-based Inequality, Violence and Discrimination

Press Release

Artists explore gender discrimination facing women at home and abroad in an exhibition of graphic design posters at the William Paterson University Galleries in the Ben Shahn Center for the Visual Arts from September 10 through December 12, 2018. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on select Saturdays and Sundays (September 16, noon to 4 p.m.; October 21, 9 a.m. to 1p.m.; November 4, noon to 4 p.m.; and November 17, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.). Admission is free. An opening reception for the exhibition will be held on Wednesday, September 12, from 4 to 6 p.m. A panel discussion will take place in the South Gallery on Monday, October 1, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

Selections from Women’s Rights Are Human Rights: International Posters on Gender-based Inequality, Violence and Discrimination, on view in the South and East Galleries, showcases more than 30 posters created by both men and women that challenge gender inequality and stereotypes, advocate for reproductive and sexual rights, and promote women’s empowerment and equal participation in society. Organized and curated by Elizabeth Resnick, professor emerita of graphic design at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, the exhibition features work from domestic and international artists and designers—work that challenges viewers to understand and acknowledge the role everyone should play in protecting human rights.

Resnick explains, “Women’s Rights Are Human Rights is a very fitting title for an exhibition of women’s rights and advocacy posters, as it is a term used in the women’s rights movement and was the title of an important speech given by Hillary Rodham Clinton at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. In her speech, Hillary Clinton suggests that ‘if the term “women’s rights’”were to be interchangeable with the term “human rights” the world community would be a better place because human rights affect the women who raise the world’s children, care for the elderly, run companies, work in hospitals, fight for better education and better health care.’”

In conjunction with the exhibition, a panel discussion will be held on Monday, October 1, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in the University Galleries. Arlene Scala, a William Paterson University professor of women’s and gender studies, will moderate a discussion featuring University faculty and staff including Theresa Bivaletz, campus victim services coordinator; Vidya Kalaramadam, associate professor of women’s and gender studies; Darlene Russell, professor of secondary and middle school education; and Donnalynn Scillieri, adjunct professor of women’s and gender studies. The event is free and open to the public. 

Elizabeth Resnick has organized seven comprehensive design exhibitions since 1991, the last four, including this exhibition, centered on contemporary socio-political poster design: The Graphic Imperative: International Posters of Peace, Social Justice and The Environment 1965–2005 with Chaz Maviyane-Davies and Frank Baseman (2005); Graphic Intervention: 25 Years of International AIDS Awareness Posters 1985–2010 with Javier Cortés (2010); and Graphic Advocacy: International Posters for the Digital Age: 2001–2012 (2012). Resnick is the author of Design for Communication: Conceptual Graphic Design Basics (2003) and Graphic Design: A Problem-Solving Approach to Visual Communication (1984), as well as numerous articles for AIGA Journal of Graphic Design and other publications. A member of the advisory board of the Boston chapter of AIGA, she has received several awards, including the AIGA Fellows Award. Resnick is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine art. 

The exhibition is one of two on view concurrently in the University Galleries. Speak Your Peace, on view in the Court Gallery and organized in collaboration with the artist initiative For Freedoms, gives voice to marginalized and underrepresented communities and individuals while addressing discrimination, racism, colonialism, identity immigration, and assimilation. This exhibit is part of a non-partisan nationwide campaign that uses art to inspire civic participation and responds to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom to worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. 

Funding for this exhibition has been made possible by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. The William Paterson University Galleries are wheelchair-accessible. Large-print educational materials are available. For additional information, please call the William Paterson University Galleries at 973-720-2654.