A total of 194 graphic artists from 55 countries have already taken part in the Tolerance Project – a poster campaign launched by Mirko Ilić in New York in 2017. The only requirement: The word “tolerance” must appear on the poster. Now on a world tour, the “tolerance posters” are also making a stop at Berlin’s Kulturforum – in a visual appeal for social coexistence and a space for creative discourse.

An ageing intellectual man wears bright red lipstick; a Buddhist hand gesture stops a bullet mid-air; a “ME” is reflected as “WE” – each of the 60 some posters on view in Studio Tolerance at the Kunstbibliothek (Art Library) in the Kulturforum takes an individual approach to the topic of tolerance. The works not only show an immense variety of design solutions, but also the range of what constitutes social acceptance internationally – be that in terms of political views, or national, religious or sexual identity.

Poster Exhibition with An Open Action Space

In Berlin the project is conceived as a hybrid of a museum presentation and an action platform. As a poster exhibition, Studio Tolerance provides an overview of international poster art. Alongside works by Dan Reisinger, Peter Bankov, Annette Lenz, Ariane Spanier, Gunter Rambow, Edel Rodriguez and many others, it includes a design by Milton Glaser, who created the well-known “I Love New York” ad campaign. Paula Scher, the first woman director of the Pentagram design studio and one of the leading designers of our time, is also involved in the project. Other posters originate from Syria, Iran, Bolivia, Uruguay and Thailand, to name only a few.

Studio Tolerance also provides impulses as an open action space: What does tolerance mean to each person? Where do I expect tolerant behaviour, and where is it demanded of me? How do different countries debate concepts about tolerance within their societies, and how much are they influenced by tradition, cultural value systems and current politics? Workshops for families, teens and schoolchildren use talks and art activities to encourage participants to delve deeper into the subject. Under the guidance of a team of art and political educators, various forms of expression about tolerance, coexistence and humanity are examined and tried out. The works resulting from these workshops will be incorporated into the exhibition.

Studio Tolerance is presented by the Graphic Design Collection at the Kunstbibliothek ‒ Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Poster art has belonged to this collection’s areas of specialisation for 150 years – and provides an ideal medium for thought-provoking public engagement.

63 Works by Designers from 36 Countries

Argentina (El Fantasma de Heredia), Bolivia (Frank Arbelo), Bosnia / Herzegovina (Bojan Hadzihalilovi), Canada (Marian Bantjes, Andrew Lewis), China (Jianping He, San Jin, Bo Liaoliao), Croatia (Robert Canak), Cuba (Edel Rodriguez), Dominican Republic (Chago Garcia), France (Anette Lenz), Germany (cyan, Götz Gramlich, Fons Hickmann, Uwe Loesch, Holger Matthies, Christoph Niemann, Gunter Rambow, Ariane Spanier, Henning Wagenbreth), Hungary (Istvan Orosz), Iran (Parisa Tashakori), Israel (Dan Reisinger, David Tartakover), Italy (Leonardo Sonnoli), Japan (Yuko Shimizu, Shino Suefusa), Jordan (Hamzah Abdelal), Korea (Hoon-Dong Chung), Lebanon (Tarek Atrissi, Wal Morcos), Mexico (Alejandro Magallanes), the Netherlands (Max Kisman), Poland (Maja Zurawiecka), Portugal (Nuno Martins), Romania (Levente Benedek, Renata Mihaly), Russia (Peter Bankov, Dmitry Kavka), Switzerland (Steff Geissbühler, Niklaus Troxler), South Africa (Brandt Botes, Garth Walker), Syria (Fares Cachoux), Taiwan (Leo Lin), Thailand (Danaiphan Washareewongse), Tunisia (Nja Mahdaoui), Turkey (Bulent Erkmen), Ukraine (Grafprom Studio), Uruguay (Eduardo Davit), United Kingdom (Harry Pearce, Sue Coe), USA (Stefan G. Bucher, Art Chantry, Milton Glaser, Sagi Haviv, Brad Holland, Kit Hindrichs, James McMullan, Paula Scher, Georg Tscherny), Zimbabwe (Saki Mafundikwa)

A special exhibition of the Kunstbibliothek – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in collaboration with the Tolerance Project, New York

The educational concept was developed in collaboration with the Education, Outreach and Visitor Services Department of Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and Kreuzberger Initiative gegen Antisemitismus, KIgA e. V.