kuchanua is a dynamic platform exploring critical yet pragmatic artistic, cultural, and creative interventions for fostering sustainable international development across global and local spaces.

Why?

International development cooperation faces complex, interconnected, and culturally nuanced challenges that traditional approaches often struggle to address. There's a growing recognition of the need for planetary thinking and new ways of looking at the relationships between humans and the planet, informing policy and practice in the fields of peace, development, humanitarianism and environment. The integration of arts and design into international development is becoming increasingly important, especially as a means to bridge gaps between research, policy, and action in order to ensure sustainable futures. By fostering an ecosystem of creative collaboration, we envision a world where art, design and technology serve as a catalyst for social progress, fostering empathy, understanding, and resilience in the face of complex global challenges.

What?

kuchanua explores the intersection of arts, design, and technology in the context of international development through a transdisciplinary research-oriented approach. Based on critical insights from artists, cultural practitioners, development experts, scientists and local communities, the focus areas include:

• climate change resilience

• humanitarian-development-peace nexus

• social justice and empowerment

How?

The ultimate goal is to design artistic and cultural interventions that transcend traditional boundaries in international development. kuchanua seeks to develop approaches that are neither entirely theoretical nor entirely practical, neither entirely global nor entirely local, but rather open up new possibilities for innovative and effective development cooperation. At the core of kuchanua’s approach to international development stand:

• Translating complex research into accessible frameworks through artistic expression

• Challenging conventional notions of progress and modernity

• Fostering dialogue and critical thinking around pressing local and global issues

• Decolonial and feminist lenses