Unlocking Doors: Decolonizing the Design of an Art Exhibition in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Participatory event design opens up opportunities for the sustainable transformation of a community and can therefore make a valuable contribution to the field of critical event studies. This article discusses the findings from a participatory action research project developed with a community of visual artists in Zimbabwe. The project explored how participatory event design processes could be applied to the cocreation of an art exhibition that would be used as a platform to challenge the oppressive environment Zimbabwean visual artists are working in. The design of special events in the third sector is usually reliant on the voice of the specialist event designer or organizer who is commissioned by the funding or lead agency to develop an event intervention using risk-averse and time-efficient methods. Unfortunately, this can result in in the community of interest having a marginalized role in the proceedings and thus they lose a much-needed connection with the event intervention and are not committed to sustaining the desired change. We argue that there is an opportunity for events professionals to increase their skills and develop emancipatory approaches that will decolonize established event design processes and contribute to the sustainable transformation of marginalized communities.