No Poster

At the center of this poster are two Arabic words for “no” (لا in green and كلا in white): a big NO to the many ills facing us today. The manifesto at the bottom of the poster lists phrases of defiance using the word “NO” and other forms of negation. Most are drawn from real signs held up at protests in Lebanon, the United States, Russia, Bulgaria and India. Others reference songs by Lebanese musicians Ziad al-Rahbani, Yasmine Hamdan and Bu Kolthoum that use caustic humor as a vehicle for social criticism. Alongside these serious phrases are everyday words of rebellion by children, which lighten the mood but are also a reminder of children’s vulnerability in the face of injustice.