The Professional Gallery of the Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) and Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) present Design for the Other 90%: A Panel Discussion on Friday, November 7 at 7:30 PM. The panel discussion is part of the Professional Gallery's presentation of the Smithsonian touring exhibition of the same name. Design for the Other 90% highlights design solutions that address the basic needs of poor and marginalized populations not traditionally serviced by professional designers.

The panel will include:

Cynthia E. Smith, Curator of Design for the Other 90%, of the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum (New York, U.S.A.); Modesta Nyirenda-Zabula, Project Manager with Godisa Technologies Trust (Gaborone, Botswana), which designed and manufactures "SolarAid," a solar-powered hearing aid (exhibited in Design for the Other 90%); and Professor Vikram Bhatt, Director of the Master of Architecture in Minimum Cost Housing Program, McGill University School of Architecture (Montreal, Canada).

"This panel will bring to life the solutions presented in Design for the Other 90% for countering the extreme poverty experienced daily by billions of people around the world," says Professional Gallery Curator Charles Reeve, who will moderate the panel. "We're especially pleased to have Modesta Nyirenda-Zabula with us from Botswana to discuss Godisa's innovative approach to addressing hearing loss among highly impoverished populations."

"As the exhibit shows, good design is about more than form and function. It must also take into account the needs of local communities if it is to enhance their quality of life," says David M. Malone, President of IDRC. "We're delighted to contribute to a discussion that will examine the transformative role that design can play in encouraging and sustaining development among the poor."

The OCAD Professional Gallery is the only Canadian stop for Design for the Other 90%. An extensive website, including a blog, discussion forum and additional resources is available at http://other90.cooperhewitt.org/.

Design for the Other 90%: A Panel Discussion is held in conjunction with the Universities Art Association of Canada's annual conference, November 6 to 8 at York University in Toronto. For complete conference details, visit http://www.yorku.ca/uaac/.

Design for the Other 90%: A Panel Discussion
Friday, November 7, 7:30 PM

Ontario College of Art & Design
Auditorium, 100 McCaul Street, Toronto
416-977-6000  |  http://www.ocad.ca/home.htm

All are welcome and admission is free. Limited seating is available; guests are advised to arrive early.

Design for the Other 90% continues at the OCAD Professional Gallery until January 25, 2009.

OCAD Professional Gallery
Level 2, 100 McCaul Street, Toronto
416-977-6000 Ext. 265  |  http://www.ocad.ca/home.htm
Gallery hours:  Wed. to Fri., 1 to 7 p.m; Sat. and Sun., 12 to 6 p.m.

Design for the Other 90% is organized by the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.

The exhibition was made possible by The Lemelson Foundation. Additional funding was provided by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency, the Esme Usdan Exhibition Endowment Fund, and the Ehrenkranz Fund.

The exhibition's presentation at the OCAD Professional Gallery at the Ontario College of Art & Design is supported by the Toronto Arts Council.