Poster
1974 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Colour offset poster depicting a pixellated map of the world with each continent displaying percentages of the population. A map key breaks them down into the Cold War era socio-economic divisions of first, second, and third world.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | |
| Brief description | World population Year poster by Pentagram. UK, 1974. |
| Physical description | Colour offset poster depicting a pixellated map of the world with each continent displaying percentages of the population. A map key breaks them down into the Cold War era socio-economic divisions of first, second, and third world. |
| Credit line | Given by Martin Bailey |
| Bibliographic reference | The following excerpts are from Richard Nixon's presidential proclamation of 1974 declaring support for World Population Year:
The causes of population growth are well known: death rates have been cut dramatically by welcome advances in medical science and health services while birth rates have not declined. As a result, according to estimates by the United Nations, some 80 million people will be added to the world's population this year and, if current trends continue, the world's total population of more than 3.8 billion could double by the first decade of the twenty-first century.
While the causes are clear, the solutions are not. Many tough choices will have to be made. The United States has no interest in imposing solutions upon other countries, but it does seek to help in a way which maintains our traditional respect for human freedom and dignity. The concern of all nations should remain with the human and physical environment of all of our fellow men and in seeking together ways in which mankind can discover new paths to partnership and progress.
As many of the developing countries have already discovered, it is urgent that acceptable solutions be found to this challenge. The United Nations has designated 1974 as World Population Year, and has called upon all governments and peoples to participate in its observance. In August of this year, the United Nations will convene a World Population Conference in Bucharest, Romania. The United States Government welcomes the declaration of World Population Year as an historic opportunity for all nations to study their own and world patterns of population growth and distribution.'
The predictions were correct. The global population has more than doubled since 1974 to 7.8 billion people as of January 2021. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.525-2021 |
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| Record created | September 29, 2021 |
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