DECOLONIZE
BY DESIGN

"Decolonization is a process. The fact that it’s a journey means that in order to keep evolving, we must be continually curious, and educate ourselves about what we haven’t experienced directly”, as Anoushka Khandwala explains when she questions "what does it mean to decolonize design". The first step to participate in this process is to explore the countless existing decolonial contents and then try to incorporate them into our day-to-day attitudes.

The project Decolonize By Design seeks to encourage a dive into this questioning of the universality of Western knowledge and culture, by offering a possible tool for action through communication design. The project consists of a web page that unfolds in two parts. The Decolonial Internet Mirror provides a reflection of the online debate around the topic, in the form of a searchable compilation of links related to authors and projects that address decolonization. The Decolonial Discourse section presents itself as a proposal to sensitize and call for action, offering a tool for composing and printing personalized posters by combining quotes and catchphrases.

The process of appropriating and recontextualizing pre-existing textual content available online, such as concepts, statements or slogans, follows a post-production logic. It explores the reinterpretation, reproduction, re-presentation and reuse of available cultural discourses, using design as a vector for amplifying and disseminating the multiple voices of decolonization.

Decolonization / Design / Postproduction / Appropriation / Web-to-Print.

Project by Artur Porto • Master in Communication Design • 1st year • FBAUL • ULisboa • Jun 2021.