Six illustrators turn their vision of #ZeroHunger into artwork

15/10/2018

Six illustrators, representing six different regions of the world, are sharing their vision of Zero Hunger to spread some key messages of FAO’s mandate. Each artist has taken an important message and translated it into striking images that decorate awareness raising products such as t-shirts and mugs. These illustrations will be unveiled on 15 October, the beginning of World Food Week. This is precisely a time to raise the volume on ending hunger, and these artists are helping FAO spread the word in a truly beautiful way.

The messages

The artists have helped illustrate some of FAO’s key messages under the overarching goal of Working for Zero Hunger. These important messages are:

The right to food is a human right

Save food

Small farmers feed the world

Migration should be a choice, not a necessity

Our climate is changing – your choices matter

Be the Zero Hunger Generation

The illustrators

Each of the illustrators represents a continent as well as a cross-cultural view of the world, creating his or her work in spaces that defy simple definitions of place or identity but that are nevertheless deeply rooted in a culture of origin. Each has a strong and personal commitment to making our world a better place.

Diana Ejaita, of Nigerian parentage, was chosen to represent Africa. She is a designer and artist whose work draws on the centuries-old Nsibidi system of symbols and ideograms, indigenous to Southeast Nigeria. As a child of migration, she is driven by the issues of colonial and post-colonial effects, discrimination and identity.    

Ying Hui Tan, born in Malaysia, represents Asia. A children’s picture book illustrator, she is deeply inspired by nature and animal-related themes and her work is infused with colour and light, reflecting the themes of love and kindness that she seeks to share. She combines traditional painting with digital techniques. 

Fernando Del Hambre, representing Europe, is a Spanish illustrator, art director, animator and independent publisher, whose quirky and colourful artwork situates him on the threshhold between the familiar and the alien, the artificial and the natural. His illustrations have already featured in work for FAO and UNESCO.          

Nik Neves, who represents Latin America, was born in Brazil. He is an illustrator, publisher and comic artist who has worked for National Geographic, Rolling Stone and more. His fresh, colourful and engaging drawings, which range from food to mind maps to machines, reflect an incessant curiosity about the world that we live in and how we relate to it.

Zoulikha Bouabdellah, who grew up in Algiers, represents the Middle East and North Africa. She creates installations, videos and drawings that deconstruct dominant representations to reflect upon culture, geopolitics, industrialization and the status of women. She has been awarded the Abraaj Capital and Prix Meurice prizes for her work.

Gary Taxali, representing North America, is of Indian-Canadian origins. He makes mixed-media works and paintings with a retro aesthetic, narrating his “preoccupation of constant paradoxes such as human relationships, love, isolation […] economic despair and frustration.” In 2012, Canada minted quarters featuring six of his designs.

Where to get them

These products are featured in this catalogue and can be purchased by sending an email to [email protected]. They will also be on sale at FAO headquarters at a special pop-up store during World Food Week, 15-19 October.

The products are currently available with messaging in English, but will also be produced in other languages at a later date.