Design Justice Network’s International Network Coordinator, Victoria Barnett traveled to Colombia, between January 2022 - early April 2022, and she made some connections with various designers, institutions, and community organizers doing important and needed social and design justice work! Here is her #DJNconnects story to share her experiences and photos of her time and connections in Colombia - most specifically in the city of Bogotá.

We hope to develop further international connections and relationships in Design Justice, especially with #DJNconnects in our social media and newsletter!

This section in our newsletter highlights DJN members meeting up in person: whether traveling to meet each other, in-person meetings, or chance happenings! We’d love to feature these stories and we encourage all DJN members and signatories to share stories and images of when they visit and meet each other in person, across cities, countries, and borders! If you’d like to submit some images and a brief writeup or story about your meeting or visit in real life, please email them to us at desgnjusticenetwork@gmail.com - or post on your social media platform - tag us and use the hashtag #DJNconnects

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Written by Victoria Barnett

I traveled to Colombia to do a 1.5 month (which turned into 3 months) immersion in Spanish; part in Spanish classes at a school in Medellín, and the other part traveling around the country and talking to people. I continued to work part-time for the network on my trip.

After less than a week of school, I got sick with COVID (that's a story for another day - because I was always very cautious, especially because I am diabetic!). I was sick for a good two weeks in my (private) hostel room where I was isolated. I worked reduced DJN hours during this time and throughout the trip, while I was healing and getting back to strength, but the positive thing about the downtime was it gave me a bit of time to just read and research design Justice initiatives going on in the country that I was going to try to connect with.

I was able to connect online over social media to design Justice initiatives in Colombia, one of which is called Laboratorio de Diseño para la Justicia, based at the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota! I was communicating part in Spanish and mostly in English (I was, and am still learning). I managed to schedule one of our Steering Committee members (Marta) on their podcast which can be found here: (The release of Marta's talk is pending for June 2022).

I also sat in on the podcast recording and supported with information when it was needed. It was amazing to see and witness Design Justice making a connection with folks in another country, using the language, from a follow on Twitter, and some communication back and forth!

This podcast and connection lead to further connections when I was invited to visit the university in Bogota and attend a class to talk about Design Justice and answer some questions in regards to what the students were working on in class. The Design Laboratory for Justice is an interdisciplinary and collaborative project whose purpose is to create a space to develop a new generation of concrete solutions to problems related to access to justice in Colombia in real contexts that link legal innovations, systemic thinking, and design thinking.

There were 4 projects: 1. ProBono Colombia Foundation: How to sustainably reduce the number of cases that are not selected by any lawyer? 2. petitions to the Constitutional Court: How to characterize the petitions that reach the presidency of the Court that are not related to its powers and find a way to reduce them in order to free up workloads within the Court that can be allocated to other tasks? 3. Guardianship Judges: How to ensure that guardianship judges are updated with the latest decisions of the Court and thus be able to decide better and easier the cases that come to the judicial system every day, and 4. PAIIS Clinic (Uniandes Legal Clinic) how to promote effective access and direct participation in justice for people with disabilities, through tools that implement the recognition that the law makes of their full legal capacity? (Read more here: https://labjusticia.uniandes.edu.co/2022-10)

The student groups presented their work, got feedback from their professors, and then asked me questions about design justice and how to implement it in their work and projects, as well as in general. It was great to be able to connect with the students, hear about their work and projects and as well, answer questions, and provide some resources to the best of my abilities. They had hoped I would be able to come back to the class and even though I had extended my trip for longer, I did not get a chance to return. I cannot wait for the podcast to come out though, and take a look at some of the photos of myself and the students!

I also had the opportunity to meet with the Lab Justicia program directors, Santiago De Francisco Vela (Co-leader from design) and Santiago Pardo Rodríguez (Co-leader from law), as well as some of the research team (Camilla, Nicolls, and Andrea) for a meal. Photo here:

I was also later connected to many other people doing various social justice and design justice-based work in Bogota - I was able to meet with various graffiti artists in the area (and from other countries/locations) and participate in a few live graffiti paintings and learn about the process that is used for both the design and the ability to work within or access different community spaces to create these amazing designs.

The graffiti artists were, in collaboration, @elninoautista @coloquiostencilero @japu811 @kontraky, and @v.ann28. It was a collaborative graffiti project where each artist had their own space to paint/create using different methods, and the overall image came together to fill one wall. This painting was done in hte community of Cuidad Bolívar, a community in the southeastern part of Bogotá, close to Saocha, another community where some of the artists had connections. Here are some of the photos in progress as the graffiti was being done, as well as the finished piece:

The second graffiti project was done by @elninoautista - I was able to witness the end of the painting in another part of the city of Bogotá called Palermo.

I was also able to connect with a few other artists and collectives while in Bogotá, and both participated in and attended events at the community cultural center called Casa de la Paz - which quickly became my favorite place in the city. I first visited at the end of February 2022, for a collective memory project, sewing, and weaving for memory, truth, peace, and the right to life in Colombia. People gathered, cut, and sew fabrics onto various canvases to showcase collective memory in a process that allows for emotional recovery, connections, and conversations. I also attended other events and made connections with some people at the center. Photos here:

The more and more connections I started to make, the longer I wanted to stay in Bogotá, and so I extended my trip for another full month, and in that time I connected with professor Raquel Gualdrón Cantor, a professor, graphic designer, and professor at multiple universities in Bogotá. We connected around #DesignJustice (in English and Spanish), and her University, Fundación Universitaria Los Libertadores, invited me to do a podcast talk about Design Justice for the students.

Above, are photos of the podcast recording - it was recorded live in-studio at the university, with Professor Raquel Gualdrón Cantor asking the questions, and 2 students in attendance, listening in! There was another student supporting by recording/managing the audio and technical aspects!

I spoke part of the time in Spanish, and the rest of the time in English (slowly), knowing it would be translated into Spanish. The podcast is still yet to be released but it is forthcoming - we will share it with the network once it is ready!

Finally, I also connected with different organizers and activists in the city or from other locations in Colombia and beyond - through the Furia Anarquista - where different sites in the city held events, talks and workshops. If anyone in the network ends up visiting Bogotá, I highly encourage you to connect with the folks listed here, and pay a visit to Rojinegro, a small store/community space for social justice-based art/artists, clothing, and literature!

I personally have much more to learn and practice in terms of honing my Spanish language and speaking skills, but I also feel connected to the people and places I was lucky enough to visit and grateful to the friends I made who showed me around and helped create many of those connections. If any design justice members have questions or ideas about traveling to Bogotá or Colombia, feel free to be in touch as I’d be happy to connect you!

Special thank you to my friends in Bogotá (who made most of the above possible): Nic, Raquel, Gustavo, Daniel, Vanessa, Laura, Robert, Maria, Paola, Esther, Jahir, Arturo, and Kelsey! (sorry if I missed anyone)!

-Victoria Barnett