Faculty of Arts, Design and Media

In a place where design is synonymous with art, fashion, graphic design and Carnival, how do we get a nation to talk about design related to manufacturing, trade, innovation, and planning and sustainable development? These were some of the questions that we, the co-chairs, wanted the designers, educators, engineers, other professionals and the public to discuss at the Ministry of Design forum which was created to facilitate this type of discussion. In creating this forum we wished two address two fundamental problems related to design practice in Trinidad and Tobago a) the potential impact of design as a profession or industry is not very well understand in Trinidad and Tobago and there is little discussion on the potential of design to economic and social development in Trinidad and Tobago; and b) there is a dearth of written literature on design practice in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean. We developed the idea of the Ministry of Design colloquium to create a space for people to be able to write about design practice and come and discuss design issues that were relevant to our context. We invited several government ministries to also be part of the two-day event to encourage discourse on design at a ministerial level. We asked our potential contributors ‘if there were a Ministry of Design, what would this ministry do?’

Professionals, educators and students from a broad range of design-based disciplines such as architecture, graphic design, engineering and project management and the general public were invited to respond to our call to participate in the Ministry of Design colloquium.  In the Call for Papers, the essential question was asked, “What if the government of Trinidad and Tobago directed substantial financial investment towards design initiatives on a national level? If there were a Ministry of Design in Trinidad and Tobago, how could this Ministry encourage and stimulate design, and create an awareness of its importance among the general population and other Ministries? The two key questions we were asking were: How could design support government and how can government support design? Ultimately, in the context of our developing nation status, how can design add value to our nation?

To our surprise, the responses to the call for papers came from all over the world: The United States, Jamaica, the United Kingdom, Australia, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Barbados and of course Trinidad and Tobago, and from architects, graphic designers, design educators, environmentalists, engineers, among other professionals. Over 40 abstracts were received, and 22 papers were selected. The contributors to the colloquium ranged in experience from recent graduates of the Undergraduate programme in Visual Arts at the University of the West Indies to very experienced professionals and educators. We organized responses into 8 themes. 

The proceedings of Day 2 are presented here.