Zigomo, Pamela. 2018. Unlocking Doors: Decolonising the Event Design Process. Doctoral thesis, Goldsmiths, University of London [Thesis] https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/25986/ The version presented here may differ from the published, performed or presented work. Please go to the persistent GRO record above for more information. If you believe that any material held in the repository infringes copyright law, please contact the Repository Team at Goldsmiths, University of London via the following email address: [email protected]. The item will be removed from the repository while any claim is being investigated. For more information, please contact the GRO team: [email protected] Unlocking Doors: Decolonising the Event Design Process Pamela Olga Netsai Zigomo A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2018 Goldsmiths University of London 1 DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I, Pamela Olga Netsai Zigomo hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: ___________________ Date: 21 November 2018 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “Zvikomborero Zvikomborero zvizhinji Zvikomborero tinazvo Zvikomborero zvamwari”1 To the Maonero Visual Artists Collective, thank you for taking a risk and trying something new without guarantee of a successful outcome. Thank you for trusting me and teaching me about your world. To the amazing team involved with Chipawo Girl Power group thank you for sharing your amazing energy and creativity. To Dr Richard Hull, I am so thankful we finished this journey together. Your advice, words of encouragement, witty jokes and thoughtful suggestions have kept me going and led me to explore new and interesting paths that I would never have thought to consider. To the whole ICCE team, thank you for listening to my initially, very vague ideas, and accepting me into your community. To my family, thank you for being so patient and so encouraging. Mom and Dad, I thank you for being my constant cheer team, for calming me down in those moments when I panicked about the task being too big and for being my ever-willing chauffeurs and general ‘fixers’. To Petros, Lydia and Anna, thank you for taking me in and providing refuge, cake and ‘braai’ when resources and spirits were low. Rosie and Kuziwa, thank you for listening and being my sounding boards in those important times of reflection. Norman, thank you for sharing your amazing artistic talent and design skills. Selina, thank you for organising me and keeping me sane and for reading every single word of this beast. To Paul and Tadiwa thank you for being fantastic research assistants. To my friends Mutsa, Eve, Denise, Sapi and Janet thank you for providing the laughs, advice, the PhD soundtrack and much needed moments of escape. 1 Translation: Blessings; showers of blessings; blessings we have them; blessings from God. Shona Methodist Hymn – ‘Zvikomborero Kunemwi’ – an adaptation of English hymn ‘There Shall be Showers of Blessings’ written by Daniel Webster Whittle (1840-1901) 3 ABSTRACT Participatory Event Design (PED) is a potential innovative approach to the design of planned events intended to trigger social change. It is a values-based, transparent process that focuses on using safe, open spaces and dialogic encounters. The design of events for social change has traditionally relied on the voice of specialists commissioned by funders who prioritise socio-economic development objectives. This can result in the marginalisation of communities of interest. A Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach was applied to design an art exhibition with 17 Zimbabwean visual artists. The project focused on addressing problems relating to the access to spaces and resources that enable visual artists to achieve their economic empowerment. In PAR the researcher actively engages participants in the conduct of the research using an iterative process that requires periods of reflection for the researchers to identify key learning points. Post-Colonial theory was applied to examine the inherent power structures which enframed the traditional spaces of exhibition event design and to understand the beliefs and ideologies that informed the actions of the research community. The research drew on Participatory International Development practice to establish possibilities for solutions to the problems identified, this prompted the development of PED. The decolonisation of traditional event design processes is recommended to remove oppressive structures that compartmentalise stakeholders, encourage patronage systems and restrict the agency of marginalised communities. Event designers working on events with a social mission need to apply skills that enable them to empathise with communities that have experienced the traumas of being marginalised. They need to focus on facilitative and reflexive skills to leverage sustainable transformation. The notion of the colonial veranda is offered to explore the liminoid aspects of the PED experience which can be a safe space for communities to come together and create the necessary solutions for social change. 4 CONTENTS DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP ...................................................................................... 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... 3 ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................... 4 CONTENTS .......................................................................................................................... 5 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ......................................................................................... 9 List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................ 11 PROLOGUE ....................................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 13 1.1 Introducing the Project ............................................................................................... 13 1.2 The research context and problem ........................................................................... 16 1.3 Why Planned Events? ............................................................................................... 17 1.4 Defining Social Change for This Research Project .................................................... 20 1.5. Setting the Context to the Development of the Research Focus ............................... 23 1.6 Research Questions .................................................................................................. 35 1.7 The Thesis Roadmap ................................................................................................ 36 CHAPTER TWO: POST-COLONIAL THEORY AND PARTICIPATORY INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES ................................................................................................. 39 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 39 2.1 Post-Colonial Theorists .............................................................................................. 41 2.2. Applications And Manifestation Of Power Theories in Post-Colonial Theory ............. 45 2.3. Key Themes In Post-Colonial Theory ....................................................................... 48 5 2.4 Post-Colonial Arguments Against Development And The Emergence of Participatory International Development Studies .................................................................................. 60 2.5 Critical Pedagogy and Paulo Freire ........................................................................... 62 2.6 Participatory Development ......................................................................................... 68 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 72 CHAPTER THREE: REVIEWING THE LITERATURE IN EVENT STUDIES ....................... 75 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 75 3.1 Events and Impacts linked to Social Change ............................................................. 77 3.2 Event Design For Social Change ............................................................................... 99 3.3 Participatory Design ................................................................................................ 115 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 126 CHAPTER FOUR – THE ZIMBABWEAN CONTEXT ........................................................ 129 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 129 4.1 Understanding The Societal Structure - Political Legacies ....................................... 132 4.2 Key Issues Faced By The Creative And Cultural Industries In Zimbabwe ................ 144 4.3 Spotlight on the Zimbabwean Visual Arts sector ...................................................... 152 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................