Introduction: The present study aimed to analyze the mechanisms of appropriation in the official poster of the 13th Fajr Visual Arts Festival, a work that creatively merged indigenous and non-indigenous pretexts to symbolize a dialogue between Iranian pictorial traditions and transcultural visual elements in contemporary visual communication. The poster was selected because it represented both a visual emblem of the country’s most important visual arts event and a valuable case for examining processes of meaning-making through intertextual and intercultural remaking.
Purpose & Question: The purpose of the research was to reveal how visual appropriation functioned as a creative and cultural strategy in poster design, showing how Iranian designers negotiated between local traditions and global modernity. This aim arose from the scarcity of analytical and interdisciplinary research in poster design, where most previous studies had focused mainly on formal or semiotic aspects, leaving the mechanisms of trans textual transformation and inter-civilizational meaning-making underexplored. The study was theoretically grounded in a hybrid framework combining Deborah Cartmell’s adaptation theory and Bahman Namvar Motlaq’s inter-civilizational theory, which together provided a dual perspective on visual transformation as both aesthetic reinterpretation and cultural dialogue. The significance of this study lies in its attempt to elevate the field of visual communication from a predominantly formal-descriptive level to one grounded in conceptual and intercultural analysis. On one hand, the research contributes to the theoretical enrichment of appropriation and re-creation discourses within Iranian visual arts; on the other hand, it demonstrates that visual communication design can function not merely as a tool for information delivery, but as a cultural and interpretive language. The research question is as follows: How did the process of appropriation in the poster of the 13th Fajr Visual Arts Festival, through the remaking of intra-cultural and intercultural pretexts, contribute to meaning production and the emergence of an inter-civilizational condition?
Methods: The methodology was qualitative and based on a single case study. Data were collected through documentary and visual-textual analysis, involving comparative examinations of Iranian miniature paintings, relevant Western artworks, and motifs from popular culture. The analysis adopted a descriptive–interpretive approach to trace the semiotic and compositional processes through which meanings were generated. Three mechanisms of appropriation were identified: (a) Trans textual remaking, involving selection, reinterpretation, and contrastive recontextualization of earlier visual elements; (b) Formal alteration and displacement, in which scale, orientation, and spatial context of motifs were modified to produce new meanings; and (c) De-authorization, which reduced the hierarchical dominance of an “original” pretext and turned it into one among multiple coexisting voices within a polyphonic composition.
Findings & Results: The findings indicated that the poster designer effectively integrated these mechanisms to blend traditional and modern visual languages. The resulting image neither replicated past models nor rejected them entirely; instead, it performed a visual negotiation that redefined both heritage and modernity. Trans textual remaking selectively drew on Persian miniature aesthetics while combining them with Western and contemporary design motifs. Formal displacement repositioned visual elements to weaken their former authority, and de-authorization allowed diverse pretexts to coexist on an equal level, generating a dynamic dialogue among multiple visual traditions. The analysis further showed that the visual logic of the poster was predominantly dialogic and mediatory, reflecting an intercultural negotiation between self and other rather than confrontation. Appropriation thus functioned not merely as an aesthetic method but as a cultural strategy for rearticulating Iranian visual identity within global visual discourse. It illustrated how design could operate as a form of cultural translation, enabling local imagery to participate in global conversations while maintaining symbolic continuity. From a theoretical standpoint, the research expanded adaptation and inter-civilizational theories beyond literature and cinema into visual communication. It demonstrated that applied arts such as poster design could serve as intellectual arenas where meaning was produced through creative mediation among multiple cultural voices. From a practical perspective, the study offered conceptual tools for designers and educators to employ appropriation as a framework for both innovation and critical inquiry. The study also revealed that visual appropriation revitalized Iranian visual memory by transforming inherited images into living, dynamic expressions. The resulting poster exemplified the potential of graphic design to act simultaneously as an artistic and epistemic practice-producing knowledge about interculturality and visual communication through image-making. However, certain limitations were acknowledged, including the focus on a single case and the lack of interviews with the designer, which could have deepened the interpretation of intent. Future studies might extend this research by comparing multiple festival posters or conducting fieldwork to explore evolving intercultural visual strategies in Iranian design practice. In conclusion, the study demonstrated that appropriation, when framed within inter-civilizational dialogue, transcended imitation to become a generative process of transformation. By recontextualizing historical imagery within a contemporary graphic framework, the poster achieved both aesthetic originality and cultural depth.