WaterAid: Representing development through art and developing artists through representation

Horton, Sarah (2024) WaterAid: Representing development through art and developing artists through representation. In: Routledge Handbook of Arts and Global Development. Routledge, pp. 462-476.

Abstract

WaterAid has fostered strong symbiotic relationships with artists for over ten years, gaining increased exposure to new audiences for the charity and artist alike. Focussing on WaterAid UK as a case study, this chapter explores various approaches for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and charities to collaborate with artists within developing countries and/or the diaspora to represent and communicate global development issues. Drawing on critical theory we explore the potential benefits and pitfalls of this relationship providing a model for other organisations and artists who want their work to impact on social causes. We examine ways that artists have challenged three main existing paradigms - poverty porn (or shock-effect), deliberate positivism and post-humanitarian communication - by incorporating approaches as diverse as dystopian fairy-tale landscapes and Afrofuturism. Maybe through artists’ collaborations we are witnessing the emergence of a fourth paradigm of humanitarian communication ‘art for development communication’ which seeks to minimise and counter the criticisms of previous campaigns.

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