Tolerance Poster Show. Ideas in Motion.
Mirko Ilić is a Bosnia born Graphic designer and illustrator. In Europe, Mirko created comics, illustrations, posters, books, and record covers. After coming to the U.S. he became an art director of Time Magazine — International Edition and later an art director of the Op-Ed pages of the New York Times. In 1995 he founded Mirko Ilić Corp that designs for a wide range of clients, from non-profit organizations to high-end hospitality clients. His work received numerous awards and is exhibited in museums like the Smithsonian and MoMA in New York.
Mirko Ilić is a co-author of several books, as well as an organizer and curator of shows and lectures around the world. Mirko teaches illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
The Tolerance Project is a traveling poster show that asks prominent designers from around the world to create artworks with the word Tolerance in their language. In just two and half years, the project, founded and curated by Mirko Ilić, has had more than 62 exhibitions in 27 countries around the world that were seen by over 100,000 people.
This socially driven initiative features posters by masters of contemporary design, among which are Milton Glaser, David Tartakover, Paula Scher, Istvan Orosz, Peter Bankov, Jianping He, Fons Hickmann, Michel Bouvet, Niklaus Troxler, Pekka Loiri, Alex Jordan, Uwe Loesch, Alain Le Quernec, Brandt Botes, Parisa Tashakori and many others.
One of the great patrons of The Tolerance Project was the late Milton Glaser. A good friend of Mirko Ilić, Milton volunteered to create a logo for the exhibit. It is one of the last logos designed by Milton and it will always be the show’s talisman that represents unwavering love and support, which our friend had for this project.
Today, when so many wounds of society, such as social injustice and racial disparity are cracked open, The Tolerance Project is perhaps even more relevant than the day it was created, because none of our social issues can be truly addressed until we learn to love, respect and be tolerant towards one another.
I spoke to Mirko Ilić and asked him to describe some of the joys, challenges, and inner workings of this project that he is so passionate about.
Olga Severina (PosterTerritory for DesignToast): I heard that posters were sometimes torn down or destroyed, which, ironically, is just another reminder of why we need such a project, but how about the other side of the coin — were there cases when people reacted to the posters in a funny or entertaining way?
Mirko Ilić: Unfortunately, it seems to be human nature to remember bad things rather than good ones. One of the best things that happened in quite a few places, was that people wanted to buy posters because they liked them so much. But the sweetest thing happened at the Tolerance Show in Dubrovnik, Croatia. An art teacher brought his high school students, and instead of photographing the posters, the teacher asked the students to draw them.
Olga: I’d like to ask you about times when the exhibitions “poured over onto the city streets” instead of being hung in a gallery or a showroom — how long did these posters “live” in that space? What were the longest “lifespans” of these kinds of exhibits?
Mirko: Some of the shows can last for five months if the material on which the posters are printed is durable enough. In some places, like in Novi Sad, Serbia, and Madrid, Spain, the same posters were exhibited in different parts of the city at different times. These types of exhibitions can last for quite some time. In other cases, after the show ends, the organizer would give the posters to high schools or other institutions to be hung permanently in their space.
Olga: In just twenty-four months your project has traveled to cities and towns all over the globe and reached a grand total of twenty-seven countries. Do you think anything has changed in the way we treat one another in these two years of the exhibition showing around the world?
Mirko: It seems the situation is only getting worse and, unfortunately, a poster doesn’t really have the power to make a significant difference. But I’m hoping for small changes. A notable achievement for me would be if these posters could make one person feel better about themselves, or give them a sense of empowerment.
Olga: Of course, everyone defines Tolerance differently, but what does Tolerance mean to you?
Mirko: For me, tolerance is a bare minimum of decent behavior that we should exhibit towards each other. Below is a quote from our mission statement: “THE TOLERANCE PROJECT starts a conversation about inclusion, which can only begin with a foundation of tolerance. In a world increasingly split by race, religion, sexuality, and national origin the show utilizes the unique power of design to remind us what we all have in common.”
Olga: If there was a young girl named Tolerance — an activist fighting for her rights, what qualities do you think she would have?
Mirko: I don’t think it is a question of qualities of that young girl, whatever they are. How does one judge the qualities of another person? For me, I don’t think her qualities as an activist fighting for her rights, as you put it, are important. Whatever her qualities are, she has the right to be tolerated, to be seen as an equal, and to be included.
Olga: I’m curious, is the poster collection still growing? Are new posters still being added to it? And if so, then how?
Mirko: Yes, the collection is still growing. Approximately every two weeks we receive new posters. Just recently we got one from one of the most awarded and recognized American illustrators, Brad Holland.
There are two ways we get new posters. Whenever we have an exhibit, I ask prominent artists, designers, and illustrators from that country to create posters for that exhibition and their work travels with the show. That way, I have the word “Tolerance” written in a local language, as well as posters that very often address the issues of tolerance that relate specifically to this country.
The other way I get posters is by contacting artists around the world on a regular basis and asking them to contribute their work. That way, the show stays relevant and always addresses the current issues of the day.
Recently we had a show in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It is our fourth exhibition in Ljubljana in three years, but because each show only includes the posters submitted after the previous exhibit has ended, every new showing becomes a completely original event.
If anything, this year has taught us is that we all have to fight to make this world a better place, and projects like this are exactly the tools we need for this fight. We need them because they teach us that it’s not important what color your skin is, but what is important is how much you are prepared to change and accept another culture and another opinion that is different from yours. The world is changing and it is up to us to wield it to what we want it to be.
Olga is an exhibition curator and graphic designer residing in Los Angeles, California. Having a passion for the graphic arts, Olga Severina founded PosterTerritory initiative that became a launching platform for contemporary art shows and poster exhibitions in the US and abroad. Under its umbrella, she curates graphic art campaigns that tackle a variety of social issues and feature artworks by some of the biggest names in the international design community.
