Mother Tongue submissions closing December 1

10th September, 2010

INDIGO, the International Indigenous Design Network, has launched Mother Tongue, an innovative online exhibition that seeks to capture the power of language - verbal and visual, formal and informal.

Language is not only a product of human life - it is a pre-requisite that humans require to form relationships. As a fundamental form of expression, language binds people together. But not all languages are spoken. A language can be visual - made up of complex ideas of truth deeply rooted in symbols, custom and imagery.

Intended to stimulate creative dialogue, Mother Tongue offers designers a forum to respond to the position that indigenous language iconography, process and design knowledge can and should play an integral role in contemporary design. This cross-cultural platform will honour languages at risk and encourage collaborative projects that deepen our understanding of people's culture in our visual world of this 21-century.

"We need a culture shift. Can design reconcile differences?" says David Lancashire, Chair of the INDIGO Advisory Group. "Let's begin a journey of understanding - fostering a new respect for life, nature and the natural world. Let's value the principles of truth, honesty, generosity, equity and kinship."

Mother Tongue is an open, multi-disciplinary, online exhibition. It is open to designers of all disciplines, students of design, poets and writers. Participants are invited to submit responses in the form of a poster, a photograph, a poem, a product, a piece of architecture - that interprets the spirit of Mother Tongue. Submissions will be accepted in image, video and audio formats.

To nurture inclusiveness and promote dialogue, all submissions will be presented as a digital gallery on www.indigodesignnetwork.org



"Mother Tongue builds on Icograda's strategic priorities of unity and engagement," says Russell Kennedy, Icograda President. "Its ambition is to create a space for designers to collaborate around a theme that promotes cultural diversity as a core value and to celebrate indigenous knowledge as a contemporary and living culture in our global community."

The Mother Tongue Brief is live now on the INDIGO website.

The deadline for entries is 1 December 2010

For more details and to download the call for submissions visit http://www.indigodesignnetwork.org/?p=838