The Art of Questioning

We start this year of 2021 with a new blog and our new organisation,
The Rights Studio.

While we describe ourselves as a new creative hub, The Rights Studio
is, in fact, an invitation. An invitation into a new way of thinking
and doing, one which begins with questioning everything we take for
granted. In particular, how we contribute – or think we contribute –
to a better world. We will not have all the answers, but we want to
ask better questions.

Why? We need to have open and honest conversations about our sector
and interrogate whether we are as essential as we convince ourselves
we are. The radical change that is needed is unlikely to come from
institutions or from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) like ours.
So what is our role? And who are our allies?

The questions we ask are not about the answers, nor are they about new
ideas. There are enough ideas out there to reinvent the world several
times over. As Audre Lorde said “there are no new ideas still waiting
in the wings to save us… There are only old and forgotten ones, new
combinations, extrapolations and recognitions from within ourselves –
along with the renewed courage to try them out.”

In practical terms, we will do this primarily through the arts and
other creative expressions. However, this goes beyond what we do or
produce to how we approach and do the work.

“Art has become something which is related only to objects and not to
individuals, or to life. … Why should the lamp or the house be an art
object, but not our life?” asked Michel Foucault.

This leads us to the raison d’être of the Rights Studio: why not
aspire to run our organisation as an art form in and of itself? The
goal would not be to achieve a perfect organisation, rather to examine
every aspect of the work as something that can be continually improved
over time.

We will be sharing our journey through these questions in this blog,
with words and illustrations. We will also share some of the thinking
that inspires us, and invite guest writers to contribute to the blog.

Maybe it’s a tall order but we believe that with humility, reflection
and openness it is a challenge worth taking.

We hope you will join us on our journey.

Veronica Yates, Co-Founder, Managing Director

Miriam Sugranyes, Co-Founder, Art Director