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W H Y C R E A T I V E R E S I S T A N C E
The contribution we make to Design & People is to open dialogue that is needed globally in order to have broader perspectives of the issues we face in the present context. Dialogue, we believe is the only way that we, humans could come to an understanding of the intricacies related to diverse issues. A conflict has many roots that the thinkers need to explore. As we have seen cultural politics play a major role in shaping the minds of the people anywhere in the world. Mere discussion on politics would not be sufficient if we are to touch on the complexity of the issue.
The space opened in Design & People is to enable people all over the world to 'design' their thinking relatively and grab the opportunity given to present them so that all receive the chance of voicing their grievances. We believe that even the thinkers have their grievances and that is why they write. We have this notion and we continue contributing to Creative Resistance. The virtual space opened empowers us to speak to the whole world and we need everyone in the world to see what issues we face and our perceptions on the ground realities. We need the world to communicate with us and to turn the discussion into a political discourse to promote and strengthen democratic struggles.
Further, we believe that our thoughts would help people in different sectors to sharpen their thinking as well as activities and even take these thoughts to their forums to dialogue which we think is a great influence we could make through Design & People. The whole writing process to this web space is to investigative and could be named as Citizen Journalism. We believe that our thoughts can influence the lives of many and so investigative writing could even help in changing conditions of the lives of the people. It is therefore to make writing a struggle to change conditions that we are engaged with Design & People. We think writers in the world would perceive in the same way and make their valuable contributions so that a global dialogue could be realised through Design & People. This contribution is not a mere intellectual practice but a daring act to defy the unjust systems prevalent in one's social environment.
We believe writing is productivity. And it turns out to be revolutionary production only if it could see how the repressive systems act on people. The subtleties in the repressions meted out by the 'system' or as the Westerners call it the 'establishment' should be explored and Design & People is to enable such exploration make visible to the world. It is very correct when we call 'Creative Resistance' as the resistance that people in the ground level should make is first creatively brought up here. Therefore, it is for resistance purposes that we write and what we try to achieve is that not only our people but sympathisers from all over the world should come together in resisting all types of repressions.
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Writings by Ravindra Ranasinha: http://www.designandpeople.org/ravindra/
In the year 2003, Sethu Das co-founded Design & People with the slogan — 'Design For People In Need'. Today Design & People is a global network of graphic and industrial designers, writers and architects working towards social and humanitarian projects. He is one of the Design Curators for the International Symposium and Exhibition — "Re-Designing the East: Political Design in Asia and Europe" scheduled to tour former Eastern European countries in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the Solidarity Movement of Poland. The focus of the Indian section of 'Re-Designing the East' will be the 'Open Design & Information' policy of Design & People and its initiatives to change the historical misconceptions on the function and purpose of Design. Sethu Das devotes his time and energy working on social and humanitarian projects of Design & People and campaigning for various causes in which he believes. A collection of his writings on design and other issues of common concerns are being published under the title — Creative Resistance. From being a graphic designer, to starting a socially-conscious design movement, Sethu is a man of varied tastes and talents. You won't however find him enjoying a bottle of Coca-Cola! Sethu Das can be reached at: sethu.das@designandpeople.org
Writings by Sethu Das: http://www.designandpeople.org/sethudas/
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W R I T I N G S
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"Newspapers are unable, seemingly to discriminate between a bicycle accident and the collapse of a civilisation."
George Bernard Shaw
The 'Open Design & Information Policy' of Design & People grants users the freedom to copy, share, study, distribute, display, transform or even make derivative works based on Design & People artworks — both visual and written — for any non-commercial or academic purpose by giving appropriate credit to the author of the work. We advise the user who creates a subsequent work based on the original artwork make no attempt to remove it from the Public Domain. By choosing to contribute to the evolution of this work of art, the user agrees to give others the very same rights.
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Sethu Das: Graduated from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda with a Fine Arts Degree and went to Srinagar for a casual visit — and accidentally reached Dharamshala, the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-exile. There he was moved by the stories of Chinese atrocities in Tibet related to him by Tibetan political prisoners. He founded the Friends of Tibet (India) in 1999 with one member. Within years, the organisation (www.friendsoftibet.org) turned into a people's movement with members worldwide. He is also the Executive Director of World Tibet Day Foundation. Among other things, Sethu has the rare distinction of dropping out from the Industrial Design Centre of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), one of the premier design institutes in India. He has worked with The Economic Times, a business newspaper and Netscribes India, a knowledge-consulting firm.
