“The new idea is to lift people out of poverty by giving them tools to improve their incomes. Their lives are changed not by handout aid, but through design,” says the curator of a new exhibit at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. The exhibit is designed demonstrate the ways the lives of the poor can be improved through inexpensive inventions.
“The 70-some items range from exceedingly simple adaptations of indigenous materials, such as clay pots, to high-tech devices including inexpensive laptop computers” and address key social issues such as food preparation, water purification, sanitation, education, disease prevention and shelter. “Solutions range from “permanet,” a polyester mosquito net treated with long-lasting insect repellent, to solar-powered lights, computers and hearing aids.” One example: Foot-powered water pumps enable African farmers to irrigate their fields, resulting in a 10-fold increase in their farm income. The show’s catalogue is an incredible resource in itself, “an amazing compendium of facts and practical information that could serve as a handbook for international development as well as an inspiration to design students and professionals.”
Perhaps more exciting is the fact that the designs on exhibit “signal a transformation in a field long focused on high-end products for the affluent.” Young designers and architects appear “eager to apply their skills to solving social problems from housing the poor to providing access to education, clean water and health care.”
Read A New Tool For Fighting Poverty
Tags: Anti-poverty strategies