Public appeal posters re-entered the public space during the covid pandemic—and had a polarizing impact. The use of posters for government finger-wagging dates back to the 1920s. Those in positions of disciplinary and moral leadership have long sought to control people in both the public and the private sphere. While the state still performs this paternalistic function in some political systems, acceptance of diverse lifestyles has risen steadily at least since 1968, if not before. Those behavioral rules or admonitions that are still disseminated by means of posters are intended primarily to protect individuals, induce respect for others, and promote social solidarity. They hardly ever use imperatives and are more likely to appeal to individual responsibility, though they may still collide with the subjective sense of liberty. 

This exhibition assembles public appeal posters dating from 1920 to the present and sheds light on how society itself and the role of the state have changed.