 |
| silence kills . 2020 |
i worked on the illustration above for the lebanese offices of medecins sans frontieres for their #inktober2020 instagram campaign. i've never participated in any inktober activities in the past, but i made the exception on this occasion as it was for a good cause and spreading an important message.
each invited illustrator was assigned a topic to illustrate. i was assigned 'speaking out', which is one of msf's important core beliefs as an independent medical, humanitarian organisation. as msf provides medical aid and support for people in various countries in crisis, they are also vocal about their stance when disagreeing with certain views or politics when helping in a particular country. msf observe neutrality and impartiality in the name of universal humanitarian and medical aid, but neutrality is not synonymous with silence. according to dr. james orbinski, former president of msf, "we are not sure that words can save lives, but we know that silence can certainly kill".
we're seeing examples of people stepping out to voice the wrongs that are happening everywhere. it's important to speak up than stay silent, especially in these times. my illustration is inspired by these acts of speaking out, and shows how one might feel when they're not able to speak the truth. the arabic on the cage loosely translates to 'silence kills'...
thank you msf lebanon for reaching out, and i hope you're happy with the illustration. to know more about msf's approach to speaking out, head to the link here. and check out their instagram page to see the other illustrations in their campaign. i end this post with a process gif to show you where the illustration started and how it evolved into the final you see above.
