A poster designed to accompany an exhibition of the same name, presented by the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, 2025. Weltformat size, 128 × 90.5 cm (50.3 × 35.6 inches), ink jet. Design by Bob Beck.

“This poster uses the full text of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 to confront the contradiction at its centre: a British document that appeared to recognize Indigenous land rights while helping enable displacement, mistrust, and colonial control. The density of the text makes the burden of reading visible, echoing the overwhelming authority of colonial language.

Set entirely in Scotch Modern, the poster links typographic form to the period of the Proclamation. Italics, small caps, ligatures, colour, and forced justification expose patterns of possession, contradiction, and power within the document. Event information and an Algonquin land acknowledgement are woven into the composition, creating a layered reflection on territory, history, and Canada’s continuing presence on unceded land.”

> Bob Beck, contributing designer, Montreal QC, Canada