HIVOS: Visualizing the 5 R.O.O.M. project outcomes
Back in September 2021, I was selected by HIVOS to take part in a creative challenge for illustrators whose task was to interpret R.O.O.M.’s outcomes in the context of the Africa Union and UNESCO declaring 2021 as ‘The AU Year of the Arts, Culture, And Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want’ and ‘International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development’ respectively.
Programs like RESOURCE OF OPEN MINDS (R.O.O.M) are so important because they support and recognise the power of Art to question dominant structures in society, propose alternatives and bring about change. It makes me very proud and honoured to have played a part in their work.
Here are my 5 illustrations depicting my visualization of the R.O.O.M. project outcomes.
My mood board
Initial sketches and exploration
1. Makers become more self-sufficient.
R.O.O.M. project’s work aims at supporting creatives to create new channels of income generation so they can commit more time to creating critical/conscious content as opposed to commercial work that is often only meant for entertainment.
For this illustration I got inspired by the idea of tapping into multiple sources of income that are now realistic options for creatives in this day and age.
2. Makers are more independent.
R.O.O.M. work in this area aims at ensuring creatives are able to create and share their work without any third-party interference for example state actors, editors, and even members of the general public.
For this illustration my visual was centred around the idea of giving the creative more freedom to create and express without interference. I want to highlight a creative mind with room and freedom to think, create and express.
3. Makers produce more critical content.
With interventions under this outcome, R.O.O.M. intend to continue providing grants as they have been for decades, so that more creatives are able to express themselves, creating bold content that spurs dialogue, debate, and dissent in society
For this illustration my visual was centred around the idea of speaking truth to power and using creative arts to drive social impact. The idea of speaking up resonated with me when I read this ROOM outcome.
4. Makers reach wider audiences.
Here, R.O.O.M. intends to make interventions that make it easier for creatives producing audio-visual content to share their work in online spaces and to be able to reach wider audiences all over the world.
For this illustration my visual was centred around the idea of Video and Audio entertainment, international ambitions and mostly importantly tapping into technology to help create new virtual and interactive experiences for a wider audience.
5. Creative hubs have increased capacity to facilitate audio-visual productions.
ROOM recognizes that creative hubs often operating in different forms. The project will continue providing infrastructure development and capacity building support for both hub managers and members going forward.
For this illustration my visual was centred around the idea of creating a hub, ecosystem or just encouraging and facilitating the collaboration of different creative disciplines under one space and community.
To learn more about this project click here
