Since 2005, the British Council’s Design & Architecture team have been running a global campaign for the design of better souvenirs. The campaign focuses particularly on parts of the world that do not have effective contemporary symbols – either products or images.

The souvenir is a very effective tool for looking at the usefulness of design in the context of international cultural relations. Souvenirs should provide a neat summary of the culture of the place visited, be of sufficient quality and curiosity to suggest that the giver has gone to some trouble and expense and, at the same time, be appealing enough for the receiver to want to have them in their home. Airport shops the world over are full of souvenirs that no-one really wants to buy – there’s a gaping hole in the market. Now that foreign travel is so accessible and that we have become more discerning consumers, shouldn’t the souvenirs we buy reflect our greater sophistication?

The souvenir also provides a very neat brief for a design workshop: design a small (travel-size), representative object; something that is achievable in a short time, easy for the public to understand and likely to yield a media-ready, photogenic series of prototypes. It is also a way of demonstrating the income- and employment-generating possibilities of design in developing countries where it may be seen as a luxury.

Since launching in Moscow in March 2005, souvenirs workshops have been held in Warsaw, Shanghai, Brussels, Kolkata, Mumbai, Budapest and Caracas.

We feel that there is great potential to explore this idea globally and to expand the scope of our activity beyond the span of a three-day workshop. In order to genuinely influence how souvenirs are produced and sold, the early involvement of local manufacturers is crucial, whether they are already involved in making souvenirs per se, or whose materials or products could be reconceived as such. The idea could be expanded into a high-level forum on country-branding and national and cultural identity for those involved in government and tourism.

Now is a good moment to elevate souvenirs from their kitschy associations and see them as valid expressions of a country’s visual culture. Particularly in an era which has seen the emergence of so many new – or newly independent – nations, providing well-designed, beautifully made and attractively packaged embodiments of their national identity is just what they need to remind their visitors of where they have just been. Perhaps in three years’ time, we’ll be able to exhibit all of our souvenirs for the 21st century, but the greatest testament would be to pop into the tourist shops of the world and buy them.  

For more information contact alison.moloney@britishcouncil.org