Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

2023

Abstract

This paper is inspired by the Woxsen and Banaras Hindu Universities’ international conference, Cultural Diversity for Sustainable Development in Art & Design, held in 2023. It is based on my keynote for that conference and subsequent thoughts.

Consider urban, rural, local and global communications… Think about experimental and innovative media used alongside indigenous knowledge and folkloric craft practices… Reflect on respect for the disparity of human identity, heritage, tradition and culture… Ruminate on the importance of documenting, preserving, protecting and enhancing creativity and cultural diversity is essential for our collective future…

My contention is that radical, and in some cases painful, adjustments to how we live are no longer ‘design decisions’ or ‘sustainable choices’. As creatives, we have considered for some time that perhaps we need to slow down, take time to breath, consume less and cease striving, but we have not yet come collectively and universally to understanding that advancement is not always positive, that we are operating an obsolete and unsustainable business model, and that thinking in terms of a smaller Earth is conceivably our only solution.

Comments

This paper was presented as a keynote for the International Conference on Cultural Diversity for Sustainable Development in Arts and Design, Woxsen University, India, 2023. It has been submitted to Shodhkosh: Journal of Visual & Performing Arts in June 2024.

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