The power of the ABC

According to Desiree Brown, curator of the collection, the South African version, begun in 2006, was not prescriptive in the number of teams and as a result 65 unique posters discussing crime and violence through literary wit and imaginative design are now travelling around the country as an exhibition.

“Two factors steered our project into this direction,” says Brown. “The first was the information and research from a book entitled ‘A is for Ox' which tracks the collapse of literacy and the rise of violence in an electronic age.

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Knowledge transfer

The second factor came from the contents of an ‘After Eight Debate' with John Perlman on SAfm, where the comment was made by one of Perlman's guests, that written answers had been dropped in Matric exams because apparently it would penalise people who could not write fast enough. Unfortunately, it appeared that this was one of the factors that resulted in a high drop-out rate in first year university students.

This indicated that without the ability to use words and more importantly choose words, real knowledge is not transferred and people do not have the ability to argue constructively for a point of view or explain what they understand. You can imagine that should this happen in a more heated debate, the urge to punch instead of explain would be far higher,” Brown explains.

Written answers have subsequently been re-introduced into the exam process, and Brown is of the opinion that someone with a book in their hand may not have a gun in it instead.

“We are sure that we won't be able to solve all of the crime and violence in South Africa but if we do something to re-establish one of the pillars in our society that has fallen down, then perhaps we can solve a significant part of the problem. And that's worth doing,” she continues.

literary wit

The 26 Letters exhibition was launched at the Design Indaba in Cape Town this year and has attracted much attention. Brown has great visions for the future of the project and hopes to move the collection round the country taking it to different galleries, libraries and even schools. The theory is that the exhibition pays for itself through sales of copies of the posters printed on canvass. The exhibition at the Thompson Gallery produced 30 sales alone and from this experience, it seems as if the concept should succeed.

It is impossible to convey the importance of these posters through description. The pairing of writers with designers has created works full of literary wit and political and social comment, which is reinforced time and again by inventive and intelligent design. They are, quite simply, brilliant.

The South African Book Development Council recently published a survey on the reading behaviour of adult South Africans, and the findings were dismal. To surmise, we are not a book reading nation. It is up to those who have been exposed to the joy and wonder that reading can bring to one's life to spread the word. This exhibition does just that.

At the IABC Africa Regional Conference, taking place in Johannesburg in October, Brown will address the top business communicators in the country. She hopes to stimulate interest in the alphabet again and remind people that they have a powerful tool in the ABC - regardless of what language they might speak.