Détente

28-day campaign for compassionate curiosity

June 2021

The Détente collection includes:

A5 postal kit (screen printed box)
112-page, 10 week reflective journal in 4 colourways
Printed on 100 gsm recycled stock
Hand-bound with French stitch binding
Screen-printed hardcover with gold foil deboss
Gold ribbon bookmark
A3 fold-out 28-day calendar
Set of 5 A6 postcards and greeting cards
Printed on smooth archival cotton
Round corner-punched
Set of 10 UV-printed quotation pencils
Waterslide decals for application on merchandise

Détente is a project centered around destigmatising addiction through compassionate curiosity.

Addiction is extremely complex and compassion alone is not enough to solve it. However, when we show those suffering with addiction that we are willing to be “an island of relief” (Gabor Maté, 2008), to hear their story with compassionate curiosity, it could pave the way for them to seek further support and potential rehabilitation. When we talk about addiction with self-awareness and without judgement, we set an example for those around us that there are other perspectives worth considering. Détente provides a map through the noise and politicisation of addiction and particularly substance abuse, and it is up to the audience to take as much or as little from it as they need in order to come to informed decisions and discussions.

The “war on drugs” is an aggressive anti-narcotics campaign first championed by President Nixon in the Cold War era and has been a playbook for drug policy in many countries ever since; a simple manipulation of language has instigated decades of criminalisation, incarceration and militarisation as opposed to prioritising accessible, long-term rehabilitation, mental health services and harm reduction. We have been fundamentally raised to believe that addicts are weak, a shame to society and a burden on the system; and just as there is no easy alternative to the war on drugs, we cannot expect opinions to shift 180 degrees overnight. Instead, we should aim for something more realistic: an easing of hostility,
a détente. Not everyone will be touched by theirs or someone else’s addiction in their lifetime, so there needs to be something tangible for them to interact with that can help
them bridge this gap of understanding.

Détente is a 28-day programme designed to be adaptable, with action items for everyone: it provides the user with resources to organise their own real-life or digital events, learn more about addiction from empathy-centred perspectives, and continue the discussion and exploration of their own flaws and vices. The physical toolkit that complements this programme is postal size, allowing it to be sent anywhere in the world with a letterbox; it adds an element of interaction and inclusivity to the discourse around addiction, with the various touch points designed to be a presence in the
user’s everyday life. If something as simple as a pencil printed with a quotation or a postcard sent to a friend can remind someone to be more empathetic, and subsequently remind them of this campaign around addiction, then that is progress.