W HAT ?

CULTURE, TRAVEL, GLOBALISATION

Otto Neurath , image: Wik

THE INSPIR AT I O N
ipedia Gerd Arn tz, image: gerdarn tz.org

Ryszard Kapuscinski
(1932-2007) Polish journalist, foreign correspondent, historian and poet, whose dispatches in book form brought him a global reputation.
In his work Kapuscinski often reflected on who was the Other in the beginning of history and in todays multicultural world. He was an eminent thinker and supporter of the concept of dialogue with the Other inspired by philosophers like Lvinas and Tischner and his own numerous travels. His many books are a fascinating record of a reporters observations and philosophical reflections on the world and people.
image: kapuscinski.info

VISUAL COMMUNICATION, GRAPHIC DESIGN

Isotype
The International System Of TYpographic Picture Education was developed by the Viennese social scientist and philosopher Otto Neurath (1882-1945) as a method for visual statistics. Gerd Arntz was the designer tasked with making Isotypes pictograms and visual signs.
image: David Ili ff

Eventually, Arntz designed around 4000 such signs, which symbolized keydata from industry, demographics, politics and economy. Otto Neurath saw that the proletariat, which until then had been virtually illiterate, were emancipating, stimulated by socialism. For their advancement, they needed knowledge of the world around them. This knowledge should not be shrined in opaque scientific language, but directly illustrated in straightforward images and a clear structure, also for people who could not, or hardly, read. Another outspoken goal of this method of visual statistics was to overcome barriers of language and culture, and to be universally understood. The pictograms designed by Arntz were systematically employed, in combination with stylized maps and diagrams. Neurath and Arntz made extensive collections of visual statistics in this manner, and their system became a world-wide emulated example of what we now term: infographics. The Isotype symbols were not meant to completely replace words, but to summarize and support the verbal content of the statistics. Due to this visual summary, less text is needed as well the images give the relations, so that the text can be limited to key words instead of sentences.
source: Max Bruinsma, www.gerdarntz.org

METROPOLIS, SOCIAL MEDIA

Global village
This project was also inspired and informed by London, the melting pot of over 300 nationalities and global social networking platforms on the Internet.

r e t t e b e w n a c w o H s r e h t o o t e r u t l u c r ou ? e g a l l i v l a b o l g s y a d o t n i
Todays world is a very busy place and more people are beginning to face living in multicultural societies. Apart from established multicultural areas like the worlds biggest metropolises, many other places on the map are starting to see transformations towards more ethnically, racially and religiously complex social compositions. Our neighbourhoods are becoming more diverse than ever before, but do we really know who our new neighbours are?

N O I T S E U Q THE

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In our new global village there are still confl icts and misunderstandings based on cultural differences, prejudices and stereotypes. On the other hand, as proved by many, contact with other cultures is an enriching experience as they are an invaluable source of knowledge and inspiration. Today, the amount of human encounters and contacts is growing rapidly and the world climate will depend on the quality of our relations with Others writes Ryszard Kapuscinski, a renowned journalist and traveller. So how could this dialogue between cultures be improved?

In todays world extensive amounts of data are being visualised in order to be quicker and better understood. Images, symbols, maps and Isotype-style diagrams are used to portray complex subjects and stories hence the saying a picture is worth a thousand words. By combining my interests in culture and visually aided information I have investigated how different cultures can be promoted with the aid of images a powerful, memorable and universal means of communication, and a captivating layer through which information can be absorbed more effectively by all people regardless of spoken language or education.

HoW ?
O S I
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S E P Y T

ARTEFACT ITERATION N 1

Isotype-style pictures
The first artefact was a questionnaire that asked people for words that would describe their own culture. These words would be subsequently visualised to create a collection of Isotype-style inspired visual dictionary. This method, while informative, turned out to lack the personal touch, which is essential in rich cultural contact.

h on es t

m el an ch ol ic

s en si ti ve

SHARING
ARTEFACT ITERATION N 2

CARDS

Treashare Cards
Therefore the next artefact was created with the ambition to be more personal while still holding the educational aspect. A blank card with a short instruction on the reverse was designed and given to individuals. They were asked to draw or attach an image representing an aspect of their own culture/identity, together with a concise summary of what they wanted to share.

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The Treashare cards have been an appealing instrument for a direct, physical contact with the Other and provided first-hand knowledge about their culture. The cards have been given out on many occasions at workplaces, meetings, parties and workshops and proved to be a playful device of cross-cultural education and inspiration.

L O N D O N

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How ?
ARTEFaCT ITERaTION N3

Culture Picture
The project was extended and the cards were introduced to the global village as the following artefact Culture Picture a purpose-built social platform that hosts a collection of shared images and stories. The aim of this platform is to reach a global audience via the Internet and reveal a picture of a culture based on multiple individual entries. The website can be browsed randomly or searched for a specific culture or keyword and it serves as an attractive cultural-collage-guide.

L P L A CI

M R O F AT

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ARTEFaCT ITERaTION N4

WORKSHOP

A Very Cultural Workshop

The cards and the website serve an educational role back in reallife environment, as the images and cultures behind them can be discussed at informal meetings, classes in schools or workshops. A Very Cultural Workshop was the next iteration of the project. In a relaxed atmosphere, invited participants brought completed cards or created new ones. All the culture pictures were then presented and debated.

. . . e R u T u F
In my view, the project has substantial potential considering possibilities such as: selected or commissioned culture pictures installed in public space to intrigue and raise awareness; a cultural game with guessing and memorising pictures and stories; an instruction for creative school classes and workshops utilising the Culture Picture platform. Essentially, the future for Culture Picture is that it will function not only as an attractive source of information but also as a more interactive and engaging tool for cross-cultural communication, education and inspiration, that will enrich, promote understanding and encourage empathy and dialogue between neighbours in our diverse global village.

By hosting both personal and expert knowledge Culture Pictures ambition is to become cultural Wikipediano.1 destination to information on different ways of living, employing various media formats: images, video and sound. The platform can be also expanded and include useful statistics in form of live infographics. Mobile format and touristic information is also a possible route, e.g. showing local cultural events.
e v en t s

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A I d E TUP
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P U B L I C S PA CE
Existing or commissioned culture pictures could be presented in public space, for example in the Tube in similar fashion to Poems on the Underground. Different display methods in other places could also be applied for inspirational and educational purposes and to raise cultural awareness.
The symbol of the heart is oft en associated with with the emoti on of love. The symb ol of spiral is u sed on Celtic art to de note the sun. C olor green is often a ssociated with Irleand and the color re d with the heart . This doodle represen ts love within a n Irish family. Since Ir eland is an isla nd the family is show n above water.

by Peter

Irish Culture

S S A L C E V I T A CRE
Culture Class
instruction manual

Similar to the workshops, the culture pictures could be created and discussed in schools. An information pack would be designed for teachers on how to conduct such a class, where pupilsparticularly of different cultural backgroundswork together creatively and learn from each other.

A ND...
...board and video games, competitions, publications, eventsyou name it!