Imágenes Constituyentes
Design for
Constitution, Democracy, Dialogue, Photography
Year
2019-2020
Constituent images
On the 18th of October of 2019, the largest social movement of the last 30 years emerged in Chile, transforming the political landscape and the visual atmosphere of the country.
The movement was highlighted for its scale, the multi-causal nature of its demands and the ways in which Chilean citizens expressed their social demands and political opinions. In response to the protests, the political class opened a Referendum, and Chileans voted to approve a new Constitution for the country.
Imágenes Constituyentes aims to stimulate an open and inclusive exchange through photography to approach and influence the emerging dialogues that the Chilean constitutional process is creating.
This project’s proposal is the result of an iterative Design methodology which emerged from research about: the understanding of dialogues and their importance; the democratic, political and dialogical potential of photography; and the Chilean political and visual context.
Insight
What was the most difficult part of this project?
I think working in the middle of the pandemic was the most challenging factor. Despite our Dissertations being personal projects, the idea of working together with the rest of the Masters classmates was really important for me. Unfortunately the pandemic hindered our ability to collaborate and create collectively.
Do you think this project can be scaled up?
Yes, I am working on creating a new iteration of the project during the Constitutional process in Chile.
What were the key methods that you used for this work?
Literature and news review, interviews, prototyping and collaboration with another researcher Nicole Cristi. Nicole Cristi is a PhD student in Anthropology in Material and Visual Culture at University College of London. Her research agenda is about History and Theory of Design, Material Culture Studies, and Anthropology of techniques and technology. Nicole is the author of Resistencia Gráfica (2016) a book about the work of collectives of resistance art during the Chilean dictatorship.
