Beehive Collective “Mesoamerica Resiste” Graphic Campaign

(from Food First's "Putting Food First" Newsletter)

The Beehive Design Collective, a non-profit, volunteer-run organization, creates educational graphic campaigns in their mission “to ‘cross-pollinate’ the grassroots by creating collaborative, anti-copyright images for use in educational and organizing tools.” Their visual images transcend language.

Cross-pollination (collaboration) with those directly affected by the issues their work represents is central to their mission; as it helps them to create knowledge and educate in the most accurate way possible.

Using the metaphor of insects, the Beehive Collective graphically represents issues surrounding globalization and global justice, with a particular focus on the Americas . One such project now coming to completion, is the “Mesoamérica Resiste” graphic campaign, which is their “most ambitious and elaborate illustration to date.” This campaign, which makes connections between colonization, militarization and resource extraction in the Americas , touches on issues of land consolidation, food and seed sovereignty, food and pollinator diversity, community-based trade, genetic modification of foods, cash crops, subsistence agriculture and other issues relating to food.

The Collective is currently on tour, presenting “Mesoamérica Resiste” throughout the U.S. and Canada . For other examples of their graphic campaigns, visit their website at www.beehivecollective.org