32/125 — Johanna Mehrtens
ankErPuNkt
Cultural identity through design
Idea — The project ankerpunkt looks into the question whether the use of design methods for dealing with one’s own and with foreign cultures can generate identity and resolve conflicts. The aim is to initiate, observe and examine relevant processes of reflection within the framework of workshops for adolescents. Context — ankerpunkt positions itself in urban areas where people from very diverse cultural backgrounds live side by side. In the social microcosms of schools and youth centers cultural origins play an important role. In order to create space and set up a framework for cultural reflection, ankerpunkt develops concepts for workshops which follow the approach of aesthetic education: sensory experiences shall train the abilities of self-reflective perception and sensation. Content — First of all, the project team considered questions about the meaning of origin and identity and examined which design methods could be used for reflecting on these topics. A point which turned out to be problematic was that dealing with cultural origins carries with it the danger of idealizing and stereotyping cultures: this is how we delineate and conceptualize ourselves as separate from others and reduce people to their national origins. – To avoid this danger we chose the image of the scarab beetle as a symbol for the feeling of attachment which constantly changes and is made up of several different elements: the
beetle rolls a ball of animal feces. The ingredients the ball is made up of are parts of the way the beetle is taking. Then we decided to focus on manual printing techniques and to print designs on t-shirts. The adolescents themselves should develop the designs. At workshops, in schools and youth centers we were able to test our concept and found that it yielded lively discussions among the youngsters about their origins as well as about what they consider to belong to their identity and what not. These observations encouraged us to continue to offer these workshops. With my project I want to contribute to the acknowledgement of cultural differences. Diversity is nothing unusual – it is part of our everyday lives and of everyone’s identity.
Upstream — ankerpunkt is concerned with experiences of cultural differences. To experience cultures different from mine during my diploma year I traveled to India – for me a symbol of diversity – to do research. Looking at this country with my foreign eyes, I had the opportunity to evaluate the approach I use in my project.
Coaches Internal: Anka Semmig External: Gaby Fierz Team & Credits Big thanks to all involved: Nathalie Fluri and Daniela Vieli for project assistance. Eliane Gerber for her outstanding editorial work.
Product — My product consists of concepts for workshops in which design methods are used to deal with culture, identity and origin. Additionally, there will be a documentation of these workshops with texts and pictures.
Sandra Kessler, Diana Pfammatter, Florian Giraudel, Markus Schmet, Felicia Schäfer, Manuel Wüst, Jonas Grieder, Sarah Zussy, Yuyu Chen, and Florian Bitterlin.
Contact kontakt@ankerpunkt.ch ankerpunkt.ch