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Design & People
Open Design Philosophy
The current literary and artistic property rights result in restriction of the public's access to works of art whereas the goal of the Open Design Philosophy of Design & People is to encourage such access. This is designed to enable the public to creative use of artworks, therefore reinforcing the idea of the user/producer model of the internet and other digital media. It also recognises that with the birth of the internet, there are greater possibilities of collaboration, shared and distributed production etc., traditional copyright does not facilitate such collaborations. The Open Design Philosophy advocates an economy appropriate for art - based on sharing, exchange and joyful giving.

• More About Open Design Philosophy: Read
• Origin of Copyright Laws: Read

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Items on Design & People (May 2006)
'Designs For A Better World'
Popular Dutch Design magazine 'Items' on Design & People and the people behind the unusual concept of Open Design in its story - 'Designs For A Better World'.
Read (Dutch)

Outlook on Design & People (January 2005)
'The Visual Metaphor Of Dissent'
Outlook features Design & People and its activities for those in despair through 'Making a Difference' - profile of people who work under wraps, beyond the laudatory limelight.
Read (English)

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Stop The Olympics Torture
Poster of the Month
Design & People poster for Friends of Tibet's "Stop The Olympics Torture" protests when 2008 Beijing Olympics Flame of Shame reaches New Delhi, India on Thursday, April 17, 2008.
The Open Design Philosophy of Design & People allows you to copy, share, distribute, display, transform and make derivative works our artworks for any non-commercial/academic purpose by giving appropriate credit to the author of the work.

Download

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Coffee Mugs from Design & People
Creative Resistance for Daily Inspiration
Here's a wonderful way to begin your day - introducing Creative Resistance Coffee Mugs from Design & People. Each superior-quality; multi-purpose ceramic mug carries the Creative Resistance Logo and the Design & People Mission Statement. Though the primary purpose is outreach and education, these coffee mugs can also be used to serve tea or even as a pen holder :-) All proceeds from Daily Inspiration Project will be used toward continuing the research and design programmes of Design & People. To know more, email us at: support@designandpeople.org

Have a Design & People day!

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August 9, 2003
Design & People: A Journey Begins
Cochin, Kerala: Design & People launched its own brand of 'Design Activism' through an exhibition titled 'Portrait of A Corporate Crime'. It was an exhibition of photographs of the Bhopal gas tragedy by Padmashri Raghu Rai. The eminent filmmaker, Shri Adoor Gopalakrishnan - who has continuously used his films to hold a mirror to the society, inaugurated the exhibition on August 9, 2003, at the Kerala Lalitha Kala Academy Gallery, Ernakulam. The people of Kerala got a chance to witness this five-day long exhibition consisting of 58 photographs due to the initiative taken by Design & People and Greenpeace. In a bold departure from typical ceremony protocol, a lamp was not lit to mark the inauguration of an event. Instead a 2-minute silence was observed in memory of those who died in the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, and also as a mark of protest against the collusion between a corrupt government and a corporate giant responsible for the tragedy.

Unlike other ceremonies, a lamp was lit by eminent filmmaker Shri Adoor Gopalakrishnan in memory of those who died in the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy. (L to R) Suku Dass and Sethu Das (Co-founders, Design & People); Shri Ganesh Nochur (Greenpeace), Shri KL Mohanavarma (Novelist) and Smt Leela Menon (Journalist).

Delivering the inaugural address, Shri Adoor Gopalakrishnan remarked that it has become a crime to take birth in underdeveloped countries. "The multinationals attach little value to the lives of those who inhabit in the third world. Living in a third world is only a 'claim' and in reality, we are heading towards a fourth world." Shri Thomas Jacob (Press Academy Chairman and Associate Editor, Malayala Manorama), Smt Leela Menon (Journalist), Shri KL Mohana Varma (Novelist), Shri Ganesh Nochur (Greenpeace), Shri Sethu Das and Shri Suku Dass (Co-founders, Design & People) also spoke on the event. The 5-day long exhibition had several activities planned for each day. 'Creative Resistance' - a collection of writings published by Design & People, was released by Shri Thomas Jacob. Shri Adoor Gopalakrishnan released an audio CD produced by Design & People titled 'Talk Sense Series', containing a speech by Dr Vandana Shiva titled 'Towards Compassionate Economy and Technology' with an introduction by Prof Samdhong Rinpoche. 'Miles to Go', a 58-minute film documenting '1000 Bhopals Jathra', a 60-day journey by Greenpeace India activists made by Nina Subramnani, a Chennai-based filmmaker premiered at Cochin at the Kerala Lalitha Kala Academy Gallery on August 13, 2003 marking the end to this event.

About 'Portrait of A Corporate Crime': The world-renowned photographer, Raghu Rai, arrived in Bhopal hours after the gas leak to find chaos. The dead were being buried and cremated, the hospitals were overflowing with thousands of patients and the doctors had no idea on how to treat them as there were no guidelines from Union Carbide on what needed to be done in such an eventuality. It soon dawned on Rai that he was documenting a massive disaster and the beginning of a never-ending nightmare for the gas-exposed survivors. "What I saw was to change my life. It was an unprecedented scene of chaos. What startled me most was the silence of death. Thousands of people had already died, thousands more than those who died in the 11 September attack on the World Trade Centre. I vowed then and there to continue my work, to do all I could to show the world what happens to people when corporations are not held liable for their operations, when they are allowed to cut costs and safety standards when they operate abroad." To date, 20,000 have died from gas exposure and the effects are now extending into the next generation. 1,50,000 of the survivors are chronically ill and communities are drinking contaminated groundwater because Dow has still not cleaned up the dangerous chemicals Union Carbide left behind. After almost 18 years, what this exhibition clearly shows is that the people of Bhopal need action not mere words.

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"This is the duty of our generation as we enter the 21st century - solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give a noble and humanising meaning to a community in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others."
Elie Wiesel

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