A&D ANNUAL 2021

Ariane Mateo

Microaggression is a form of indirect discrimination minorities face, often neglected when discussing the topic of racism. An individual’s experience with micro aggressive behaviour can result in the pressure to assimilate and develop a cultural identity crisis. This work is informed by Dr Dori Tunstall’s Respectful Design, and Carl DiSalvo’s Adversarial Design which focuses on recognising different values and methods of receiving information and making information more accessible, visually expressing different ideas while highlighting concepts to raise awareness. ‘Rice Grains’ is a work made up of three components: a digital zine, a printed zine, and an Instagram page that has collected anonymous submissions from Asian-Australian young adults about their experiences with microaggression and the effect they have had on their cultural identity. This is accompanied by illustrations and typography highlighting specific sentences or words from the submissions. The research uses design activism through zine pedagogy and social media to reach a broader audience to create conversations between the primary and secondary audiences of non-Asian-Australians and Asian-Australians. Overall, ‘Rice Grains’ aims to help audiences understand the impact of microaggressions by raising the voices of the affected community.