Aktuell sind so viele Menschen auf der Flucht und Migration wie noch nie zuvor. Zeitgleich entstehen neue Formen von Grenzpolitik und Überwachungs-Strategien. Die Europäische Union ist zugleich Ort der Hoffnung und Zuflucht als auch Festung und restriktiver Akteur. Wie gehen wir mit dem Widerspruch eines offenen und auf universellen Menschenrechten basieredenden Selbstverständnis und dem zeitgleichen Ausbau von Abschottungs- und Polizeimaßnahmen um?
Die Studiengruppe Informationsdesign setzt sich in den kommenden beiden Semestern mit aktuellen Migrationsbewegungen, deren Ursachen und Folgen und der Beziehung dieser zum juristischen Ansatz universeller Menschenrechte auseinander.
Wie migrieren Menschen aktuell? Welche Wege nehmen sie? Welche Rolle spielen Medien, Kommunikationskanäle, Karten und Bilder? Welche Versprechen treiben migrierende Menschen an? Welche politischen und gesellschaftlichen Subsysteme entwicklen sich aufbauend auf den aktuellen Migrationsbewegungen? Wie kann Kommunikationdesign genutzt werden um spezifische Formen der Migration sichtbar zu machen? Und welche Rolle spielt die nicht-Sichtbarkeit von Migrationsbewegungen? Wie können im Feld der Migration aktive NGOs, zum Beispiel bei der Seenotrettung im Mittelmeer oder in Erstaufnahmelagern, aber auch lokale Akteure im nahen Umfeld, mittels Kommunikationsdesign unterstützt werden? Welche gesamtgesellschaftlichen Diskurse kann Kommunikationsdesign mitentwickeln um Missstände sichtbar und diskutierfähig zu machen?
Zu einer weiterführenden theoretischen Einbettung soll die Konzeption der Menschenrechte mit dem Thema Migration in Bezug gesetzt werden. Ist zum Beispiel Seenotrettung eine Form der aktiven Ausübung der UN Menschenrechtscharta? In welcher Form und auf welcher Basis werden Verstöße gegen die Menschenrechte wie beispielsweise aktuell laufende Push-Back Aktivitäten europäischer Akteure rechtlich untersucht? Auch hier: Wie kann Kommunikationsdesign laufende reale Themenfelder unterstützen und eigene Beiträge formulieren und thematisieren?
Im Austausch mit dem Netzwerk “Building the Future”, initiiert durch das Kollektiv PEROU/Paris arbeiten wir gemeinsam mit anderen internationalen Hochschulen an der Frage: Können die universellen Menschenrechte als immaterielles Weltkulturerbe verstanden und anerkannt werden?
PEROU schreibt:
“We declare that the gestures of the lifeguards as well as all the gestures of hospitality, care, benevolence, friendship, joy that are deployed on the path of migrants, are of a priceless beauty and significance. This is why we are conducting a request to UNESCO aiming to inscribe them on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.”
Die Annäherung an das Thema wird auf bereits bestehende Kooperation mit Sea-Watch e.V. / Berlin, Crosslocation/Helsinki, Forensic Oceanography/London, Territorial Agency/London, Potsdamer Institut für Klimafolgenforschung PICC/ Potsdam und weiteren zurückgreifen. Es ist aber auch denkbar individuelle und neue Allianzen zu suchen.
Arbeitsweise
• konkrete Aufgaben- und Fragestellungen werden von den Studierenden entwickelt
• In der Auftaktwoche wie auch in regelmäßigen gemeinsamen Austausch- und Inputformaten diskutieren wird in großer Runde Beobachtungen, Ideen, Mißverständnisse und Projektansätze
• Wir arbeiten wieder in Gruppen, weil uns nicht nur der Austausch, sondern das produktive gemeinsame entwickeln entlang der gemeinsamen Fragestellung interessiert.
• Im Rahmen von Workshopformaten setzen wir uns mit der Produktion von Bildern auf der Basis von Daten (Datenvisualisierung, Storytelling, GIS) und deren Relevanz (Data-Activism, Countermapping, Participatory Mapping) auseinander
• Wir sind dabei explizit medial nicht eingeschränkt sondern agieren nach inhaltlichem Bedarf. Räumliche Interventionen, Ausstellungen sind dabei ebenso möglich wie Grafik, Film und digitale Ansätze.
Voraussetzungen
Bereitschaft für eine ernsthafte, kontinuierliche und intensive Auseinandersetzung mit den Themen und mit unseren Gesprächspartnern wird vorausgesetzt. Im Laufe des Semesters setzen wir uns auch mit der eigenen Arbeitsmethodik und den Arbeitswerkzeugen auseinander und entwickeln unsere eigenen Tools. Das Projekt richtet sich an Studierende aus dem Hauptstudium im Kommunikationsdesign, steht aber nach Rücksprache auch offen für interessierte Studierende anderer Studiengänge.
Wichtig:
Teilnehmende Studierende sind nicht verpflichtet an beiden Semestern teilzunehmen. Sie können aber auf die eigenen Erfahrungen aus dem Vorsemester aufbauen und ihre Entwürfe mit Partnern aus realpolitischen Kontexten abgleichen, weiterentwickeln, überprüfen und einsetzen.
Dem allen liegt ein Verständnis von Design als interdisziplinäre Tätigkeit zugrunde, die ihren eigenen Beitrag aus der engen Auseinandersetzung und der Zusammenarbeit mit Anderen entwickelt und Kommunikationsdesign als Praxis versteht, die nicht im Beschreiben verhaftet bleibt sondern sich positioniert, vorschlägt, entwirft und produktiv beiträgt.
Hello to all of you,
As promised, here are the posters that were hung a week ago in Marseille at Coco Velten.
There are 106 questions, most of which are being worked on by research groups, but many of which have yet to be answered.
Some of us have not yet taken a position, and can therefore work on one of these questions (or of course create others); you can of course also spread the word to fellow researchers to take up these unworked subjects.
We will come back to you about the next phase which will end up at the Mucem, finally on 8 and 9 April. Many questions remain open at this stage about the content of this manifesto exhibition, and we have to work on it, notably with the Museum. However, the challenge remains twofold:
to create an archive of all the studies and make it available, in open source, to those who will continue the work of designing ships for the Mediterranean tomorrow;
to initiate the design process of this first ship, named the Avenir, based on some of these studies in particular and to create the conditions in terms of mobilisation and means for this colossal project.
(MA) Visual Stratigies and Stories [Information Design]
Project Exposé WS21, Seifeldeen Elfouly
PROJECT TITLE:
Multi-cultural Narratives in Humanitarian Operations in the Mediterranean:
Rescue vehicles as a Place of Ideological Acceptance and Identity Expressions.
DESCRIPTION:
The project is a visualization of the exchange of thoughts, ideologies, and Human needs that occurs in rescue operations in the Mediterranean sea. A conceptualization of the
interpersonal sides of migration as a forgotten aspect among Smugglers, EU Policies,
National Coast Guards, NGOs, and Civillence Rescuers.
The Conceptualization will be presented in abstract and fluid forms, presenting a suggested atmospheric theme of rescue vehicles: “Pérou Navire Avenir” project as a case study.
Research questions circulating the project:
Comparable projects :
Out.of.the.blue.map:
An itinerant curatorial research program exploring permanent liminality within mediterranean (fluid and solid) territories. Anchored between Morocco, France and the Netherlands, the program operates a collective and critical re-thinking of governance systems shaping these borderscapes.
On Drifting:
A participatory lexicon imagined and produced by the collective Calypso36°21 from 2018 to 2021, an alternative cartography of the [fluid+solid] border landscapes of the Mediterranean, On drifting aims to disrupt the spatial regimes, often derived from (post)colonial narratives, that now freeze the understanding of this territory. The lexicon is read from shore to shore.
InfoMigrants:
News and information site for migrants to counter misinformation at every point of their
journey: in their country of origin, along the route, or in the places where they hope to start a new life. with an archive of recorded migrants’ testemonies and naratives in several
languages.
Expected Outcome / Used methods:
A publication, that demonstrates the rescue process, in terms of:
This is the now almost traditional email from the beginning of the week to send you some new informations !
As you know, we organised a workshop at the Centre chorégraphique de Montpellier at the beginning of November on resting on board, with architects, designers, graphic designers, choreographers and artists. The report in pictures can be downloaded here : https://we.tl/t-87kWHeDAHe
On this occasion, we conducted an interview with Stéphane, a sailor from SOS Méditerranée, focusing on living conditions on board, privacy and rest. The transcript of this interview is attached.
We are preparing a meeting in Marseille on 9 December and we would have liked to receive from each of the teams an image (reference or project) and a question (problematic) in relation to each of the research topics worked on. We will make a print of the images in A3 format and display them in Coco Velten's space. It would be great to get these elements before Wednesday.
Hello to all of you,
This word to send you some elements about our common project, hoping that everything goes as you wish from Warsaw to Santiago de Chile!
We have translated into English the video presentation of the project by Marc Van Peteghem and Marc Ferrand, it can be seen here : vimeo.com/manage/videos/648800568
You will also find attached the updated plans of the ship, this after the workshop conducted from 8 to 12 November at the Centre chorégraphique de Montpellier where we worked on the place-bridge and the refuge-bridge.
Finally, you will also find attached a document listing all the teams involved in the project as well as initial information on the research projects of each of them. Do not hesitate to send us the necessary modifications, the elements of information about your institutions, your teams, the work you are developing, so that we can update this document: this vision of the geography of the subjects is important for all of us.
We remind you that we will organise a small public presentation of the project on 9 December at Coco Velten (www.cocovelten.org) in Marseille. On this occasion we would like to make our assembly visible by hanging in the space an image and a question per research topic. Could you please send us this image and question before 1 December?
We will also quickly send you a report on the Montpellier workshop and an interview with Stéphane Broc'h, maritim manager of SOS Méditerranée, on various aspects of life on board the ship. Some members of the team will be visiting the Ocean Viking on Friday 26 November, so please let us know if you would like us to document any particular aspect of the ship.
See you soon,
Sébastien for the Avenir team
PS: Impossible to send an email to the 300 people who are on this list, I am obliged to cut up the mailing; I will circulate the answers and information to all.
I am attaching some images of the last landing organised by SOS Méditerranée in Augusta, Sicily.
We have just had a week's workshop at the Centre Chorégraphique de Montpellier where we worked on the rest (Refuge, Bridge, etc). We will very soon send you images and informations on what we have been working on.
For the moment, I am sending you a short video shot on the spot with Marc Van Peteghem and Marc Ferrand who describe the project: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/645811754/analytics
We have learned that the meeting in Venice has been cancelled for budgetary reasons. But we would still like to gather all the information that will allow us to see what subjects each of them is working on.
Could you please send us some information on this subject?
We will soon organise a new meeting with Civic City with all the teams so that information can circulate as well as possible.
We will also talk about the deadlines, and in particular the meeting at the Mucem in Marseille where we hope to see you all.
Best,
Sébastien
Note that I can't send this email to everyone at once (about 200 people), so this email is sent to subgroups. I hope we will find a way to do this better soon !
11 November 2021, Centre chorégraphique national de Montpellier
The non-profit organisation ROSA was founded in March, 2021. It describes itself as a political organisation with an intersectional view of society; working with a queer-feminist and anti-racist consensus.
As founding members of ROSA, we find ourselves solely of white origin and without a migration history. It is important to us that we reflect upon racism, critically examining the potential connection between our work and post-colonial hierarchies. We would like to use our privilege of growing up as white Europeans to bring the Rolling Safespace into being and therefore, to provide help where it is urgently needed.
ROSA explicitly advocates for a solidarity-based Europe that respects human rights, calls for institutional action against humanitarian catastrophes at the European external borders and promotes gender empowering aid strategies!
Our vision – why are we doing this?
In 2019, 1% of the world’s population was on the run.
Almost half of them were female (48%) (see UNHCR Global Trends 2019).
The situation of women* fleeing is unlike that of men, characterised by additional, gender-specific burdens and challenges (see Sexual and gender-based violence against refugee women: a hidden aspect of the refugee ”crisis“).
The small number of non-governmental organisations and offers of help available to refugees at the European borders are rarely adapted to the needs of women.
ROSA is currently being established as a non-profit organisation who’s aim is to be a mobile base for female refugees in crisis. ROSA’s ambition is to provide guidance in the maintenance of psychological and physical wellbeing, offering culturally sensitive medical advice in conjunction with a safe, adaptive, networking and meeting space for women.
We want to build sustainable policies to support women* and children on the move. To do this, we want to collaborate with existing projects in line with local situations.
Coop Pad:
https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1l47y8-y-LQdfP0YkkqPhdGesQLowi40Dedw3NcoxXsA/edit
https://www.rolling-safespace.org/en/about-rosa-e-v/#Vision_en
BUILDING THE FUTURE
invitation to schools and research & creation institutes in art, design, architecture, performing arts and multiple writings to take part in the design of a ship for the Mediterranean Sea.
VPLPdesign, Civic City, Atelier Marc Ferrand, Charlotte Cauwer, Marielle Macé, PEROU / May 2021.
We declare that the gestures of the lifeguards as well as all the gestures of hospitality, care, benevolence, friendship, joy that are deployed on the path of migrants, are of a priceless beauty and significance. This is why we are conducting a request to UNESCO aiming to inscribe them on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. As part of this process, we are developing several projects aimed at supporting, amplifying and transmitting these
gestures to future generations. Building a European fleet of vessels and making them available to organizations working in the Mediterranean Sea is one of the axes of this preservation plan. Today we gather an assembly of designers determined to build the first ship of this fleet. Its provisional name: NAVIRE AVENIR [VESSEL FUTURE].
In collaboration with operators and lifeguards, we have developed in recent months the first sketches of this ship. It has four characteristics: it is a pioneering tool for intervention at sea; it is a place designed for the reception and care of the survivors; it is a place of collective life shaping itself as a Mediterranean public place; and it is a laboratory offering the conditions on board for a research placement allowing the creation of nine more ships.
We need to complete the technical, financial and legal documents for the project in the spring of 2022 and thus answer the many questions that arise in order to give this ship the dimension of a common and civic endeavor. We therefore call to schools and research and creation institutes to take up, from September 2021 and for one semester, the creative challenges that arise
All rights reserved. If you want to know more about this project or if you are interested in a collaboration, please let us know by sending an email info@truth.design.