Name/Title
International Women's Day Poster (1982)Entry/Object ID
2022.043Tags
On ViewScope and Content
Burhan Karakotli’s (1933-2003) illustration of a Palestinian woman in a traditional thobe remains an enduring and widely circulated image. Created by the General Union of Palestinian Women (GUPW) in 1982 in Beirut, the poster features Arabic text translating to “Hail to all women struggles on their commemoration day”, alongside English that marks “8th of March The International Women’s Day.” When Karakotli produced this illustration in the 1970s, Palestinian women had emerged as powerful visual symbols of national struggle, identity, and revolution. The central figure, depicted in traditional dress and armed, stands monumentally with a distant gaze, embodying resilience and steadfastness. Behind her, a procession of Palestinian women carrying clay water jugs beneath birds in flight—symbols of tradition, peace, and prosperity—reinforces themes of endurance and collective strength. Despite their active roles in resistance, education, arts, and society, male artists of the era often favored a static, framed representation of Palestinian women, visually situating them as both the bearers of cultural heritage and the progenitors of future generations of resistance.
Wall label:
An International Women's Day poster, created by the General Union of Palestinian Women (GUPW) in 1982, located in Beirut, Lebanon. The script in Arabic roughly translates to “Hail to all women struggles on their commemoration day”, and beneath, in English, ceremoniously marks “8th of March The International Women's Day”. The 1970s were considered an important stage of visual production dominated by the emergence of an iconic image of Palestinian women who, in their traditional embroidered dress, became symbols of national struggle, identity and revolution. The female became the signifier of the land, steadfastness and national sacrifice. In these works, the female figure is placed centrally inside the canvas space, with her distant gaze and upright stance, in a monumental frontal position. This symbolically “framed” and static image of the Palestinian woman was clearly favored by male artists despite the various active roles women were playing in national struggle, social work, education, culture and arts during that period. The original illustration is by Burhan Karakotli (1933 - 2003) who created the work in 1978, along with dozens of other illustrations. Karakotli was born in Damascus in 1933. He studied fine arts in Cairo and worked as professor in the Faculty of Fine Arts at Damascus University. He founded the Union of Arab Artists in Damascus in 1971. Karakotli moved to Germany where he remained until his death in 2003. He is considered one of the most important Arab artists to have been associated in supporting the Palestinian revolution. Almost all his graphic works revolved around the theme of the Palestinian revolution as well as folks talesCollection
Permanent CollectionDimensions
Height
30-1/2 inWidth
20-1/2 inGeneral Notes
Note
Donated by The Institute for Palestine Studies
