International Student Library: A Postcolonial Approach in Art and Design Learning

The paper analyses the methods behind setting up a multilingual, international library in the Certificate of Higher Education studio space at LCC-UAL. It explores the history of this student-led library as an interface between technology, pedagogy, and culture that has decolonised the study material.

The library was initially developed in 2018 as part of the ‘Certificate in Higher Education: Preparation for Design Media and Screen’ course at the University of the Arts London.

It invited international students and staff to bring books and films from their countries and run student-led seminars discussing dimensions of their cultures. At the end of the year, students exchange books and ephemera ending up with someone else’s favorite artefact that was often in a different language. Ever since, it has been as a space for students to run seminars and bring knowledge from their cultures, facilitate academics to learn from our international cohorts, socialize and enhance student voice and community. In 2023-24 the library expanded beyond UAL to students and staff from other Universities.

The student engagement has resulted in critical debates about the political nature of knowledge across cultures outlining that learning and language are political and the need for Art and Design Education to foster ecologies whereby learners are able to live and create by their virtues.

The symposium was part of the Centre for Environmental and Minority Policy Studies (CEMiPoS). CEMiPoS was established in December 2016, in anticipation of the 2017 International Conference on Policy towards Indigenous Peoples in Sapporo. Since then, we have accrued more permanent staff, more researchers, and more community allies who represent identities and initiatives from all over the world.

CEMiPoS Mission
CEMiPoS is an international research centre publishing works on environmental injustices imposed upon Indigenous Peoples and other marginalized communities and institutionalized discrimination and violence against them. Our goal is to struggle alongside those historically silenced under colonialism, capitalism, and patriarchy.

CEMiPoS advocates rights for all minorities who are surviving the legacies of colonialism, including environmental privatization and degradation. We are dedicated to empowering Indigenous Peoples, including the Ainu of northern Japan, Ryūkyūan (or Okinawan) people of southern Japan, and the Sami in Fennoscandian countries. Within these communities, we support environmental activism, policy reform initiatives, and other projects for minority empowerment.

We believe that decolonization can only be achieved when Indigenous and other minority groups act in solidarity. As such, we connect Ainu, Ryūkyūans (or Okinawans) and Sami with European minority artists to realize transcultural projects. These projects model the supranational collaboration integral to Indigenous liberation.