The Hidden Harvest: A Call for Justice and Human Rights

In 2020 I submitted an entry for a poster design competition hosted by TAICOT (The Taiwan Association for International Care of Organ Transplants). The goal of this contest was to raise public awareness toward the trafficking of human organs in China.

Better Know Your Campaign

While looking for projects to bolster my portfolio, I came across an intriguing prompt - "Stop Organ Harvesting In China". I was somewhat already familiar with this particular issue, having first been made aware of it by The Epoch Times, whom I later learned was a co-organizer of this contest. It felt that it was no coincidence. With less than a month to spare before the deadline, I immediately got to work.

The hosting website (posteraward.organcare.org) provides a robust brief on the organizer's mission and the evidence supporting their claims. According to their research, they believe that the Chinese Communist Party has facilitated the forced organ harvesting of death-row prisoners and prisoners of conscience in order to supply the need of a global organ transplant industry.

This practice is believed to have began in the 1990's when the CCP began to systematically persecute practitioners of the Falun Gong movement. In recent history this persecution has also extended toward the Uyghur Muslim community. Labeled as "enemies of the state", these people would not only be imprisoned, but also viewed as less than human. For such "crimes", all forms of punishment are permissible.

Unlikely Inspiration

For change to happen within China, it must start at the grassroots. But how could I speak to the people of China in a visual language that they would understand? To answer this question, I turned to the past and brushed up on my history:

During the Cultural Revolution, art and design were harnessed as powerful tools to propagate the ideological beliefs of the Chinese Communist Party and to mobilize the masses. Traditional Chinese art forms, such as painting, opera, and calligraphy, were repurposed to convey revolutionary messages. Artists and designers were expected to create works that glorified the proletariat, vilified class enemies, and promoted communist virtues.

One prevalent form of propaganda art was the creation of large, colorful posters often featuring heroic workers, peasants, and soldiers. These posters, known as "big-character posters," combined striking visuals with bold slogans and were displayed prominently in public spaces. The imagery typically depicted enthusiastic, smiling faces, representing the ideal communist citizen devoted to the revolutionary cause.

Satire is a powerful tool in its own right, but often requires a dark sense of humor. I sought to create a work that toed the line between subtlety and sedition. By imitating the visual style of Cultural Revolution era propaganda, I envisioned myself playing the part of a modern counter-revolutionary, cleverly disguising my message in plain sight.

Twisted Irony

The Falun Gong operate under three tenets: Truthfulness (Zhen), Compassion (Shan), and Tolerance (Ren). These three tenets run completely counter to the treatment they receive at the hands of their oppressors. This contrast would inspire my design choice for this project. Trying to avoid being too macabre, I wanted to illustrate what 'truth, compassion, and tolerance" actually looks like under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party.

真

善

忍

In my piece, Mao Zedong is replaced by Xi Jinping as the current Chinese figure-head. Jubilant proletariats are now exuberant medical professionals celebrating the butchering of political prisoners.

The balloon-banners read "End organ harvesting" to the left and "Stop Organ Harvesting In China" to the right. The other written message was to spell out "Zhen", "Shan", and "Ren" along the bottom with the organs harvested from those on the receiving-end of the CCP's "truth, compassion, and tolerance".

(Zhen)

(Shan)

(Ren)

Contest Results

The judging of the works would be based on a simple, three-category rubric:

  • 50% Expressiveness : Color and shape, Composition Arrangement, Overall atmosphere.

  • 45% Connotation : Conveyance of ideas

  • 5% Popularity : Views of this poster page from September 15th (2020) ～ October 15th (2020)

The competition was stiff given the volume of participants and the quality of other contestants' works. Though I failed to rank in the finalist group, I am proud of the work I submitted. The research and iteration process was not unlike that of working for a client and I believe, proved to be a worthwhile exercise for my professional development.

2020 Golden Award Winner

"Red Wound" (series) by Bahram Gharavi Manjili