Preview
It is with great pleasure that I can share the publication of the sixth edition of Letters to Our Friends, the outcome of my summer with Karuna-Shechen in Paris. The Letters brings together stories of Karuna-Shechen; the communities they work with, their everyday commitment, and the people who act continually to create a better future. This edition is centred on Hope, the story not yet written and the motivation that drives us forward.
Though I wrote this content a year ago, its message on Hope rings truer than ever today, with a world destabilised politically and environmentally. I hope in reading this that you will find the same reflective value that I received in composing it, in particular please sit with the question of what hope means to you - take the time to think more reflexively about your world.
My deep gratitude to everyone at Karuna-Shechen who gave me their time and supported me in writing this, particularly the supervision of Eloïse and Catherine, and to all those in the Parisian office who brought joy to my six-weeks. Finally, thank you to the Laidlaw Foundation who made this project possible.
Hello! I am a final year student at the University of St Andrews undertaking a joint Honours in Art History and Geography. I am interested in the intersection of the visual arts and the climate crisis; exploring the interactions between artists, cultural institutions, and the environment, past and present, as well as imagining what future interactions may look like.
In my first summer with Laidlaw I undertook a research project on the environmental impact of digital practice in museums and heritage institutions. This project delved into carbon costing, water usage of data centres, and the new age of digital colonialism with mineral extraction and e-waste disposal - highlight the great ecological, economic, and social impacts of increasing digital activity. My research implemented the concept of Active Hope. I explored how different experiences of hope across and in curation with different communities could write another story of our time. I questioned how hope could be the central axis for social and environmental change within digital policy in museums.
During my second summer I had the privilege of working in Paris working with the NGO Karuna-Shechen for my Leadership in Action. I wrote the sixth edition of their key philanthropy output: 'Letters to our Friends'. Centred on the theme of Hope, I carried the insights from my first year into my conversations with colleagues across the field in India and Nepal. I wrote articles that captured the charities' commitment to alleviate poverty and how they passed agency back into the hands of the communities they support.
