In March 2020, the IDS building fell silent after the worldwide outbreak of Covid-19. Following long months of lockdowns and uncertainly, in early 2021 we began to see the building reopening and our community being able to return to being in the same space.
In the conversations about returning to the IDS building, there was a sense that we had an opportunity to update the space and make sure the building communicated our vision, values, and commitment to a more sustainable, equitable and just world.
We kicked off our review of the IDS building imagery with a consultation on how our community used the IDS building and what imagery they found inspiring. We sought new artwork that would meet our Ethical Content Guidelines by reflecting the diversity of experience and perspectives within our community, our network and in our research. This included being mindful of how images had been used historically within educational spaces in line with institute wide conversations on decolonising the use of imagery within international development.
A wide variety of people pass through the IDS doors. From research staff, to students, to partners and funders, to high profile visitors and colleagues from the University of Sussex, each of whom uses the building in diverse ways and for different purposes. Based on this insight, we sought to create distinct zones of artwork within the IDS building. These include:
- ‘Our World of Action,’ a country-focused artwork that weaves throughout the IDS corridors
- Two new exhibition spaces where artwork from IDS programmes and our wider community will be featured
- Portraits of inspiring figures and quotations that have helped shaped our thinking
- A revamp of the reception area including scrolling video from the IDS YouTube channel
- Refreshed imagery in the student Study Space
Our World of Action – a country-focused exhibition
The specially commissioned artwork, ‘Our World of Action’, features 34 countries where IDS has active research projects or international partnerships. Each is connected to the next with a red line that illustrates the mobility, fluidity, translocal connections and transborder movement of our everchanging world. It communicates our commitment to knowledge sharing and mutual learning in tackling the universal development challenges we face including climate change or poverty.
In the artwork, countries are shown to be of equal size reflecting our belief in equity and justice above all. They are located on a global map drawn using the Mollweide Projection which shows the entire surface of the earth on an equal-area projection. The artwork appears throughout the IDS building and will also be used in flagship publications over the coming months.
Two new exhibition spaces
One of the most important elements of the building imagery refresh was to create two new exhibition spaces within the IDS building. These spaces will give opportunity to showcase artwork that brings to life our commitment to sustainable, equitable and just societies globally. Ongoing, the ambition is to invite local and international artists, alongside IDS students, staff and stakeholders to submit their work with the exhibitions to be updated regularly, reflecting the ever-changing world in which we operate.
The inaugural exhibitions selected by the Building Imagery Committee were: ‘Seeing Pastoralism – an exhibition about pastoralism, uncertainty and resilience’ and ‘Diversity and Representation Through an Intimate Lens’.
‘Seeing Pastoralism’ was curated by colleagues from the PASTRES (Pastoralism, Uncertainty and Resilience: Global Lessons from the Margins) research programme. This exhibition addresses what lessons on worldwide challenges can be learnt from how pastoral systems respond to uncertainty. It draws on insights from across Amdo (Tibet), Sardinia, Isiolo (Kenya), Borana (Ethiopia), Gujarat (India), and Southern Tunisia, and highlights how uncertainty is fundamental to thinking about governance and policy in the modern world.
The second exhibition on the theme of ‘Diversity and Representation Through an Equal and Intimate Lens’ was chosen by students and staff. It will show artwork that reflects the distinct and diverse nature of IDS. It includes a range of forms of artistic expression including paintings, photography, poems and songs.
Both IDS exhibitions and all the building artwork will be produced to be accessible to all. For example, each piece of artwork will be accompanied by audio description available via the YouTube playlist for those persons who might need to interact with the exhibition in different ways, such as the visually impaired.
Inspiring figures and quotations
To help inspire those within the IDS building, we consulted with the IDS community to identify leading thinkers and ‘doers’ that had shaped our collective thinking. From community organisers to researchers, founders of social movements or educators and activists, it generated a longlist of inspiration that was then voted on to select inspiring figures and quotations that now feature in the IDS corridors. These include, among others:
Paulo Freire. Educator, philosopher and leading advocate of critical pedagogy.
“Education…(is) the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of the world.”
(Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York, Bloomsbury Academic, 1968). Photo credits – ‘Paulo Freire (1963)’, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
bell hooks. Teacher, social activist and feminist scholar on the intersectionality of race, capitalism and gender.
“The moment we choose to love we begin to move against domination, against oppression. The moment we choose to love we begin to move towards freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others.”
(hooks, bell. Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations. Routledge, 2015). Photo credits – ©GettyImages
Devangana Kalita – IDS Alum (MA Gender and Development 2010/11). Academic, women’s rights activist and founding member of the Pinjra Tod (‘Break the Cage’) movement.
“Our struggle is to break free from cages. To break the cages of caste, to break the cages of patriarchy that the University repeatedly reproduces for women. Our fight is against these cages. Our fight is against all those forces that try to fog the student community with a masculine and aggressive culture…”
Devangana Kalita. Pinjra Tod Speaks out against ABVP | Youth Ki Awaaz. YouTube, 22 Oct. 2016. Accessed 16 Sept. 2021. Photo credits – Phil Mader/IDS
Building Imagery Committee
One of the most important parts of this process was formation of the Building Imagery Committee including volunteers from across the IDS community – students, professional staff, and research staff.
The objectives of the committee were:
- To review the use of imagery within the IDS building to ensure artwork reinforces the vision and values of the institute
- To survey the broader community then select a shortlist of inspiring figures and quotations to be displayed on corridors of the IDS building
- To invite submissions then select artwork for the two new dedicated exhibition spaces at IDS – including curating pieces and supporting in developing an online version of the exhibition
- To work to ensure exhibitions meet accessibility requirements and are produced in line with the IDS Ethical Content Guidelines.
The committee will continue to meet into the future with their mandate to update the exhibition spaces and maintain the overall focus on diversity and equality in the imagery featured in the IDS Building.
Come and see it for yourself!
Rejuvenating the IDS building imagery has been an exciting project that has been shaped by the input and energy of the IDS community. Particular thanks are due to the members of the Building Imagery Committee for guiding this process and the students, staff and alums who contributed artwork and their ideas. We hope you like it and look forward to hearing what you think!