How can artistic means of expression relate to the environment and governance? Today, Kaitlyn Rathwell spoke to the INDEV 101 class and shared her experiences and insight on how art can aid in fostering development and create a means of communication that most people do not often think of. Kaitlyn is currently working on achieving her PhD. She has done extensive research in the arctic by building relationships with local Inuit people and sharing her art as well as experiencing theirs. Her research focuses on five major dimensions of how artistic processes help foster development: engaging with feelings and facts, helping with collective grieving, adding myth and aesthetic, bridging knowledge systems and helping people imagine.
International development requires many interdisciplinary thoughts to produce solutions to complex issues. Kaitlyn Rathwell spoke about how art can provide a useful medium to promote the importance of development throughout governing bodies. Her progressive outlook on the use of the Arts provides a fresh perspective when thinking about ways of spreading overall awareness of a development issue.
Through her creation of music with the band Post Normal, Rathwell is able to evoke emotions that re-enchant us with nature and, in turn, provides the audience with a sense of oneness with the environment that surrounds them. Rathwell’s research, conducted in the Baffin Islands, demonstrated how developing communities are able to use art as a way to transcend generational gaps between the youth and the elder portion of the community. This ability to connect the youth with the elder portion of the community sustains a sense of tradition throughout generations and gives the entire settlement a greater sense of identity and, as a result, motivates the residence to try and develop their community further.
Another way that artistic processes can influence environmental governance is to engage with myth and aesthetics. Myths are traditional stories that are created to make sense of the world around us. Kaitlyn shared the example of the mythological being Sedna who is part of the Inuit creation story. Sedna, the goodness of the sea, is believed to provide marine animals to the community. When something is done to disrespect marine animals, or a taboo is broken, Sedna will become angry and no longer provide animals for the community. This myth prepares people for an unexpected change in the environment. It is a way of understanding that there is inherent uncertainty in the world. Kaitlyn emphasized how myth and aesthetics can help make sense of the world during transformation, like the changes Inuit peoples are experiencing in the arctic due to climate change. Different cultures have different worldviews and unique situations, this can help when facilitating development as myth and aesthetics can create a medium for knowledge sharing and thereby convey a deeper perspective of others situations. This is related to environmental governance and development, as myths and aesthetics can bring an intensity of feeling to policy makers thereby creating a willingness to act.
Another important aspect Kaitlyn mentioned was bridging knowledge systems. She used her own experience as an example to demonstrate its meaning. Kaitlin explained that when she went to meet the Inuit community in the Baffin Islands, instead of going straight to her scientific analysis, she chose to introduce herself first by connecting with the people through her music. According to Kaitlyn, this, as well as any other art, has the ability to bridge people’s understanding of one another at a deeper level, and is able to connect people of different cultures in ways which general communication is not capable of doing. Sharing a part of her culture with the Inuit community and letting them share their own in return, created a sense of connection, trust and friendship. In Kaitlyn’s eyes this is a crucial step toward effectively sharing valuable information with one another. In regards to development and governance, bridging knowledge systems with art can have a large effect on decision making processes and increase people’s collaboration abilities.