The project was coordinated by Nii Kommey Botchway, Lecturer and Graphic Design Programme Coordinator and IKSBE UNIT member together with Professor Magda Minguzzi, heading the IKSBE UNIT.
Symbols designed by the second-year BVA Graphic Design Students.
Professor Magda Minguzzi said, "Those beautifully and carefully designed logos/symbols, by our Graphic design students under the guidance of Mr Botchway, speak about a successful well-established partnership and great teamwork with the First Nation Leadership and community members, and about how much we can achieve together".
The project started in May this year, with leaders from the various indigenous communities coming to brief the students on their tribes’ histories, where they are based, the symbols associated with them and educating the students about indigenous ways of being.
“It was an enlightening engagement as the indigenous leaders were teaching the students about their indigenous values and core principals, which many of us did not know about. This important information would form the basis of the students’ research to design the symbols.
This project is situated within the following themes of pluriversal design, namely Respectful Relationality, Pluriversal Design Research and Pluriversal Communication, said Nii.
“This is the first rendition of this, and it is hoped that once we have a “proof of concept”, other groups would be part of this important work going forward,” said Nii.
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The second-year BVA Graphic Design Students, First Nation Chiefs and IKSBEU Unit members at the project briefing session in May.
Chief John Satisfied, the Chief of the Chainouqua Klaas Dorha tribe, commented at the submission of their tribe symbol: "Exciting times, excellent work by you Professor Magda Minguzzi and Mr Nii K. Botchway and the Indigenous Knowledge System of the Built Environment Unit at Nelson Mandela University. For the outstanding work, our tribe Chainouqua Klaas Dorha is honoured to have worked with you on this project, a great thanks".
High Commissioner Samantha Satisfied added "Our logo looks great; it was wonderful working in collaboration with Nii Botchway and the team. Thank you for taking our inputs, to create something beautiful, lots of back and forth until we were happy, we love it, thank you for doing this for us."
“This work is to help us overcome our post-traumatic stress of colonization” – Chief Margaret Coetzee, Inqua People.
Chainouqua People of the rivers concluded: “Prof Magda - I sincerely thank you all for the opportunity you gave myself and our students and the journey we have travelled thus far".