Empowering local community to craft desirable futures

One of the unique features of Fleur du Soleil Boutique Guesthouse is all the creative upcycled art, skilfully crafted by local artists from scrap materials.

Artistic projects have a unique capacity to empower communities to envision a world different from their present reality. Indeed, the creative process can be particularly useful in contexts of poverty and hardship, where it can be difficult for people to think beyond their immediate opportunities and constraints, and imagine alternative futures.

Artists, communities and funders can come together to effectively promote local change by transforming local communities through artistic leadership.

Addressing entrenched social problems in local communities – like inequality, violence or environmental degradation – is as much about changing local cultures and mindsets as it is about reworking the socio-economic structures around them.

Some of the most powerful tools for challenging established norms and for raising awareness about social problems are cultural artifacts like art, music and film. However, artists and artistic projects have the power to do much more. Indeed, they can play a vital role in community change. Given the right support and strategy, artist-led efforts can empower communities to craft desirable futures, make social issues visible beyond the community, and promote long-term investments in local transformations.

The 2010 documentary Waste Land offers a good example. The film portrays a collaboration between Brazilian artist Vik Muniz and a group of catadores, or ‘collectors’, who gather recyclable from in a large landfill near Rio de Janeiro. Muniz works with the catadores to create artworks from materials they have collected. The process takes the catadores on a transformative journey that helps them see themselves differently. They develop a newfound sense of pride and value in their work, and a new outlook on their roles as recyclers contributing to environmental sustainability. They also develop new artistic skills.

Locally handcrafted from recycled material, all furniture and furnishings, artwork and almost everything at Fleur du Soleil are testimonies of our support local philosophy and our care for the environment, surrounding you with a true and unique cultural experience in your home away from home. Most of it was crafted and created during the pandemic lockdown period, providing local artisans and artists not only an income source but also a creative distraction.

Reference: Transforming Local Communities Through Artistic Leadership