Art Of Survival

When looking at shanty towns, many people in the western world feel the need to step in and 'westernize' those cultures. We want to 'help' the deprived people, but in many cases, we are merely patronizing them, as we want to impose our way of living onto them. But what do we even know about these people? Except for the obvious - their living conditions are very different to ours and they lack of many things we 'could not live without', such as electricity. However, you have to consider that these people are not necessarily unhappy with what they've got, as they have not been raised with our consumerist attitude and our constant desires for newer and better things.

But people living in townships and shanty towns have no choice but to use the little resources as they have, which usually are things that our consumerist society considers as trash, such as empty cans, or bottle caps for their arts and crafts. For years and years, selling their work at markets to tourists has been the main source of income for the uneducated people there. Foreigners love the simple yet beautiful pieces of design for their uniqueness and take home bags made out of Pepsi jars or bracelets made out of safety pins, pieces that you just couldn't buy at your local Primark. Things have changed significantly over the recent years, as many of the designs that surround us now were influenced and inspired by the work of the poor and began. Designers began using the same materials e.g. car tires or juice packets to make the creativity blossoming in an underprivileged culture more accessible to western world. I'm amazed by the fact that the people who have nothing at all are able to teach us- the people who have everything- a lesson or two how the materials we just chuck away, could be re-used and have a second life as a piece of art or design.
"In many areas designers must learn how to redesign. In this way, we may yet have survival through design." Victor Papanek, Design For The Real World




Image Source: http://www.globalcraftsb2b.co.uk/images/safetypinbrace.jpg