VIDEO: Considering art + design in development
Pamela Angwech on Art+Design from Andreas Nicholas on Vimeo.
Art + Design in development: These are words that I never imagined a development professional using in the same sentence to describe the future of their work. Fortunately for me, I found an exception. Pamela Angwech is the executive director and founder of GWED-G (Gulu Women’s Economic Development and Globalization). I asked her about what role art, design, and media could play in development, and here’s what she had to say.
According to Pam, what the development field needs most are better methods to communicate stories and impact. And I don’t just mean this in the conventional marketing sense. I mean, communication in all senses: externally and internally, within the organizational structure and its programs. If development organizations were to adapt the methods of storytelling that artists and designers use, just imagine how far reaching the impact would be. Not only would the world understand these organizations and their work better, the organizations would understand themselves better. In turn these organizations would have the ability to think more critically about where they are putting their time, passion, and energy. Check out Pam’s full response in the video above.
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Nicely put, Andreas, and great video, too. I would add that design and media build accessibility to All people, not just communities with poor reading culture or those who cannot communicate easily through words. Stories, which you’ve identified as such an important component of social change, rely on our imaginations and deep subconscious responses to the symbolism, archetypes, and humanity evoked by their content. The arts have the great potential to do the same. Marketing tries (and has been glorified, in fact) to follow this path as well … the question now is, can we combine all of the above to further our understanding of what humanity needs and for social progress? Conversations like the one you’ve initiated and shared, above, are the place to start 🙂