Freedom from State or personal Interference

As Freedom Day looms, AFH takes you through the Universal Deceleration of Human Rights International Print Portfolio.  The first image for the week:


Article 30: Freedom from State or personal Interference"

Faiza Galdhari "Irony" (South Africa) 

570 x 255mm linocut 607 x 428mm paper size 

Artist Statement:  

"My visual response to the article was interpreted in terms of a lino-cut. The softness of the lino block was preferred to wood.
This, I felt, lent itself well to the issues which I grappled with in the subject matter, viz. commentary on the rights of women and Muslim women in particular, in relation to the idea of state and personal intervention regarding the bill of rights.
Since this article is very broad in that it deals with non-intervention in any of the other 29 articles, I thought it would be acceptable to comment on the idea of women’s rights from an Islamic perspective, bearing in mind the article concerning freedom of religious beliefs etc.
I have used the idea of the hand, the eye and the barcode, all symbols which are quite universal and useful as means of identification. These symbols highlight their purpose in a world where not only material items but human beings are coded, recorded and quickly categorised or identified. The posture of the hand and the official nature of the symbols was meant to comment on the idea of non-intervention, either personally or through the State.
The fact that I have chosen to use a woman’s hand, complete with wedding rings, reinforces the importance of woman universally and the sanctity of marriage in the Islamic context. I have also used the work as a platform to play on the ironies that exist regarding "freedom" in the present world and the irony surrounding western misconceptions about "oppression" in the Muslim world."

About the UDHR IPP: 
AFH's second portfolio, UDHR IPP (1999) contains artwork from various, talented artists from around the world.  The prints are drawn from a variety of cultural and historical perspectives yet send a universal message of human rights.
For more on the UDHR IPP visit our website