| Summary: | In 1986 and 1988 there was an unsuccessful referendum for majority Black neighborhoods across Boston to incorporate and form an independent city called Mandela. The referendum, motivated by widespread dissatisfaction with Boston’s treatment of Black neighborhoods, and a community desire for land control and self-determination, has been all but forgotten at present, despite its motivations being as salient as ever.
The following thesis presents my ongoing art project Mandela, Massachusetts: Design Futures for a Proposed City, which asks the question:
“How might we use design to spark conversation about the hidden history and potential design of Mandela?”.
During Spring 2021, I designed realistic posters, postcards and stickers about Mandela, and disseminated them in public spaces across Greater Roxbury. All pieces have a QR code linked to a visioning survey that gives participants the opportunity to imagine what Mandela could be.
The thesis starts by exploring the background of Mandela, Massachusetts, including the proposal, its architects, various Black Power precedents, outcomes, and legacy, drawing upon the previous research of Zebulon Miletsky and Tomas Gonzalez. Then the public art project is explained including the materials, design process, project precedents from Monument Lab, Paper Monuments, and various Black and Indigenous women artists, and explore use of the materials in-situ. The final section then reflects on the implications of public art projects, evaluating the methodology of an ephemeral art installation like Mandela, and providing recommendations on how to ground this work in the built environment and continue these conversations
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