The Ghana ThinkTank
Solving the First World's problems, one by one The Ghana ThinkTank is a worldwide network of think tanks creating strategies to resolve local problems in the "developed" world. The network began with think tanks from Ghana, Cuba and El Salvador, and has since expanded to include Serbia, Mexico and Ethiopia. In our most recent project, we sent problems collected in Wales to think tanks in Ghana, Mexico, Serbia, Iran, and a group of incarcerated girls in the U.S. Prison system. These think tanks analyze the problems and propose solutions, which we put into action back in the community where the problems originated – whether those solutions seem impractical or brilliant. In the past, some solutions have struck us as embarrassing or even offensive, but we've also been struck by the poetic nature of some solutions, and the realization that change can come from unexpected places. Once the actions are completed, we send the results back to the think tanks, initiating another round of social dialogue. By applying a typical process of community development against the grain, traditional power-roles are inverted, places are exchanged, and stereotypes clash with reality as disconnected cultures work together in detached but physical ways. Take charge, send us your problems.
The National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
The Ghana Think Tank will be going to Wales to be part of the May You Live in Interesting Times, Festival of Creative Technology, Cardiff, 22 - 24 October 2009.
From March - May 2009, the Ghana Think Tank operated at FACT, the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology, in Liverpool, UK. Problems submitted by Liverpudlians were sent to think tanks in Cuba, El Salvador, Mexico, Serbia, and Ethiopia, and their solutions were acted on back in Liverpool.
Solutions ranged from tough (building cement bollards to stop parking on sidewalks), to humiliating (installing a kitty-litter box for dogs in a public park) to fun (painting the undersides of umbrellas with sunshine and then doing sunny-day things in the rain) to unfamiliar (teaching drug addicts to build African instruments out of found materials, so they can play them to earn money while gouching "... instead a robbing.")
As part of the Optimism show, curated by Michael Connor at the Westport Art Center from September 26 - November 30, 2008, Christopher Robbins, John Ewing and Matey Odonkor installed the second iteration of the Ghana Think Tank. This time, problems submitted by Westport citizens were sent to ad-hoc think tanks formed in Ghana, Mexico, El Salvador and Serbia. The solutions provided by these think tanks, including hiring Immigrants to attend Westport events in order to improve diversity, renaming a dog "love" to get him to stop barking, a dandelion promotion campaign, and whatever else may arise, are enacted in Westport throughout the duration of the show. You can follow some of the problems and actions through the blog, photos, and video.
The Ghana Think Tank started in Providence in 2006, founded by Christopher Robbins, John Ewing and Matey Odonkor. We sent a set of problems to think tanks we formed in Ghana, Cuba and El Salvador. After receiving the think tanks' solutions, we began to enact them.
The project began as an attempt to transpose parts of one culture into another, to take a solution generated in one context and apply it elsewhere. The hope is that the friction caused by these misapplications would generate interesting results, and that we could learn something further about our own assumptions as well as those of our counterparts in the other countries.
As such, the focus of the Ghana Think Tank is not the resolution of these problems per se, but on the gaps of translation that occur within the process as a way of uncovering our hidden assumptions.
Solving the First World's problems, one by one The Ghana ThinkTank is a worldwide network of think tanks creating strategies to resolve local problems in the "developed" world. The network began with think tanks from Ghana, Cuba and El Salvador, and has since expanded to include Serbia, Mexico and Ethiopia. In our most recent project, we sent problems collected in Wales to think tanks in Ghana, Mexico, Serbia, Iran, and a group of incarcerated girls in the U.S. Prison system. These think tanks analyze the problems and propose solutions, which we put into action back in the community where the problems originated – whether those solutions seem impractical or brilliant. In the past, some solutions have struck us as embarrassing or even offensive, but we've also been struck by the poetic nature of some solutions, and the realization that change can come from unexpected places. Once the actions are completed, we send the results back to the think tanks, initiating another round of social dialogue. By applying a typical process of community development against the grain, traditional power-roles are inverted, places are exchanged, and stereotypes clash with reality as disconnected cultures work together in detached but physical ways. Take charge, send us your problems.
news
Visit the Ghana Think Tank blog for our latest news.Ghana Think Tank in Wales
The National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
The Ghana Think Tank will be going to Wales to be part of the May You Live in Interesting Times, Festival of Creative Technology, Cardiff, 22 - 24 October 2009.
Technology is now firmly placed in the everyday. In response to this, the Festival will look at ‘do-it-yourself’ through a range of commissions, projects, exhibitions, discussions and artist-led events across all art forms. The three-day programme is a celebration of the latest intriguing uses of everyday technology and social innovation, enabled through shared ideas.We'll have an installation at the National Museum of Wales and Ffotogallery from Oct 22 - Dec 10, 2009, as well as a series of actions on the streets of Wales as proposed by our network of think tanks:
As part of an upcoming exhibit at Ffotogallery, the Ghana Think Tank - a collective of international think tanks will set out to solve the problems of Wales.We are currently putting together our international team of think tanks for this edition, and will potentially have think tanks from Iran, Ethiopia, Mexico, India, and Serbia, as well as Ghana.
Ghana Think Tank: Finalist for Rhizome Commissions 2010
The Ghana Think Tank is a Finalist for Rhizome Commissions 2010. If you are a Rhizome member, and you support our project, vote now to rank Ghana Think Tank number 1 for the Member awards. View our proposal here.Ghana Think Tank in Liverpool
http://gtt.christopher-robbins.com/liverpool/
From March - May 2009, the Ghana Think Tank operated at FACT, the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology, in Liverpool, UK. Problems submitted by Liverpudlians were sent to think tanks in Cuba, El Salvador, Mexico, Serbia, and Ethiopia, and their solutions were acted on back in Liverpool.
Solutions ranged from tough (building cement bollards to stop parking on sidewalks), to humiliating (installing a kitty-litter box for dogs in a public park) to fun (painting the undersides of umbrellas with sunshine and then doing sunny-day things in the rain) to unfamiliar (teaching drug addicts to build African instruments out of found materials, so they can play them to earn money while gouching "... instead a robbing.")
You can follow some of the Liverpool problems, solutions and actions through the blog, photos and video.
We were there as part of a group show on UNsustainability (Climate for Change) including Stefan Szczelkun, N55, Eyebeam, Melanie Gilligan and AIDS-3D, curated by Heather Corcoran.Ghana Think Tank in Massachussets
The Ghana Think tank was in Boston as part of the RISD Alumni Biennial at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, January - March 2009.Ghana Think Tank in Westport
http://gtt.christopher-robbins.com/westport/
As part of the Optimism show, curated by Michael Connor at the Westport Art Center from September 26 - November 30, 2008, Christopher Robbins, John Ewing and Matey Odonkor installed the second iteration of the Ghana Think Tank. This time, problems submitted by Westport citizens were sent to ad-hoc think tanks formed in Ghana, Mexico, El Salvador and Serbia. The solutions provided by these think tanks, including hiring Immigrants to attend Westport events in order to improve diversity, renaming a dog "love" to get him to stop barking, a dandelion promotion campaign, and whatever else may arise, are enacted in Westport throughout the duration of the show. You can follow some of the problems and actions through the blog, photos, and video.
Ghana Think Tank in Providence
http://gtt.christopher-robbins.com/
The Ghana Think Tank started in Providence in 2006, founded by Christopher Robbins, John Ewing and Matey Odonkor. We sent a set of problems to think tanks we formed in Ghana, Cuba and El Salvador. After receiving the think tanks' solutions, we began to enact them.
The project began as an attempt to transpose parts of one culture into another, to take a solution generated in one context and apply it elsewhere. The hope is that the friction caused by these misapplications would generate interesting results, and that we could learn something further about our own assumptions as well as those of our counterparts in the other countries.
As such, the focus of the Ghana Think Tank is not the resolution of these problems per se, but on the gaps of translation that occur within the process as a way of uncovering our hidden assumptions.