Inter-Religious Council In Bosnia & Herzegovina: One Poster For Peace
The Inter-Religious Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina tasked Y&R Dubai with creating a campaign to promote peace and dialogue in a region still scarred by religious and ethnic divisions. They needed to reach a skeptical public and demonstrate that diverse faiths could coexist beautifully, moving beyond clichés to find a deeper, more respectful connection between the communities.
Creative Idea
Interlocked distinct religious art forms to create single, unified images of peace.
The campaign used hyper-detailed visual crafts - from Islamic wood carvings to Christian stained glass - to create composite images where diverse religious artistic traditions literally interlock, proving that harmony is a masterpiece built from individual differences.
Six Masterpieces Forging a Regional Legacy
A Decade Defining Agency Milestone
The "Mosaics" series served as a cornerstone for Y&R Dubai (now VML) being named the Cannes Lions Regional Agency of the Decade for the Middle East & Africa. While the campaign focused on the intricate "Industry Craft" of six specific executions - Mosaics, Door, Relief, Beads, Carpet, and Stained Glass - it built upon the massive momentum of the previous year's "One Book for Peace." That precursor reached over 100 million people and was broadcast on major networks like Al Jazeera Balkans, providing the necessary cultural platform for this highly technical follow-up to resonate.
Hyper Craft as Peacebuilding
Executive Creative Director Kalpesh Patankar and Chief Creative Officer Shahir Zag moved away from traditional photography to embrace "hyper-craft." By utilizing the specific textures of Byzantine mosaics, Islamic wood carving, and cathedral stained glass, the production team turned the medium itself into the message. This approach proved that high-end production value is a vital tool for social causes, not just luxury brands. The project required intense regional collaboration with New Moment New Ideas Company in Sarajevo, led by Zarko Sakan and Jasmina Nikolić, to ensure the artistic representations remained authentic to the local Bosnian heritage.
The First Council of its Kind
The client, the Interreligious Council of BiH, holds a unique historical position as the first organization of its kind globally. It was founded by a collective of religious leaders - the Grand Mufti, the Metropolitan, the Cardinal, and the President of the Jewish Community - specifically to prove that faith could be a solution to conflict rather than a cause. This campaign gave their institutional mission a visual language that bypassed political rhetoric.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
A multi-faith council representing the four major religious groups in a post-war region.
Category
Peace campaigns often rely on generic symbols like doves or handshakes that lack cultural depth.
Customer
Citizens living in a divided society who value their specific heritage but fear losing it to integration.
Culture
A society still healing from conflict where art remains a powerful, shared language across ethnic lines.
Company
A multi-faith council representing the four major religious groups in a post-war region.
Category
Peace campaigns often rely on generic symbols like doves or handshakes that lack cultural depth.
Strategy:
Materialize abstract social harmony through the meticulous integration of distinct cultural and religious artistic legacies.
Customer
Citizens living in a divided society who value their specific heritage but fear losing it to integration.
Culture
A society still healing from conflict where art remains a powerful, shared language across ethnic lines.
Strategy:
Materialize abstract social harmony through the meticulous integration of distinct cultural and religious artistic legacies.
Results
The campaign achieved significant global recognition and cultural impact, winning a Gold Lion at the 2018 Cannes Lions in the Industry Craft category for all six entries. It served as a primary contributor to Y&R Dubai being named the Cannes Lions Regional Agency of the Decade (2010–2019) for the Middle East & Africa. Building on the momentum of the preceding 'One Book for Peace' project, which reached over 100 million people and was featured on Al Jazeera Balkans, this series bolstered the visibility of the Interreligious Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina (IRC-BiH). The work was also recognized at regional shows like Dubai Lynx and was shortlisted in Print & Publishing and Outdoor categories at Cannes. It successfully provided a visual language for the first organization of its kind founded by the Grand Mufti, Metropolitan, Cardinal, and President of the Jewish Community to facilitate peace in a post-conflict region.
100M+
Reach of the broader IRC-BiH peace initiative
1st
Regional Agency of the Decade (2010-2019) for Y&R Dubai
1
Gold Lion in Industry Craft at Cannes 2018
Strategy Technique
Make the Invisible Visible
It takes the abstract concept of inter-religious harmony and makes it visible through the physical textures of shared cultural history, showing that peace is a deliberate, crafted construction.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Use Art
It leverages the specific artistic heritage of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish faiths to visually demonstrate unity. By turning religious symbols into high-end craft, it elevates the message of peace into a tangible, beautiful reality.
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Craft Breakdown
The campaign utilizes 'hyper-craft' to turn the medium into the message, using intricate textures of religious art to symbolize the interlocking nature of diverse faiths.
Meticulously designed composite images where distinct religious artistic traditions like Islamic wood carving and Christian stained glass literally interlock.
The use of six distinct visual styles—Mosaics, Door, Relief, Beads, Carpet, and Stained Glass—to represent specific cultural heritages.
Hyper-detailed visual crafts were rendered with such precision that they bypassed political rhetoric to speak through shared artistic values.
Required intense regional collaboration to ensure the textures of Byzantine and Islamic heritage were authentic to local Bosnian history.
The magic arises from the 'Industry Craft' where the physical texture of the art forms serves as a metaphor for the structural necessity of diversity in building a peaceful society.
