TOK exhibition: Challenges raised by the communication of knowledge

The TOK prompt I have selected is: “What challenges are raised by the dissemination and/or
communication of knowledge?”. This exhibition investigates the selected prompt by looking at how
communication of knowledge and information can easily be misunderstood and cause drama.
Because of all the beautiful different cultures, languages and generations that live on this planet, we
stumble across difficulties with communication.

Object 1. Instagram post by Lana Del Rey

Context:
This image was posted by Lana Del Rey in May 2020, to the social media platform Instagram. In this
post, she has cited various other female artists to hit back at claims her music “glamorizes abuse”. In
the post, she named artists like Ariana Grande, Cardi B, Kehlani, Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé, saying that
they “have had number ones with songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, fucking, cheating
etc.”. Del Rey’s comments stirred up counterblast from fans, who have interpreted her statement as
an attack on the artists she named. Most of the artists were women of colour which added more
fuel to the fire.
Connection to the prompt:
This is an especially interesting object to look at from the perspective of this exhibition because it is
such a huge part of dissemination of knowledge wrongly. It holds the power to deliver messages
through nonverbal, as well as verbal, communication to millions of users quickly and effectively.
Instagram is full of misleading and harmful content that gives those millions of users twisted and
biased information all the time.
Justification for including the object in the exhibition: n
This post awoke a lot of different opinions and people taking sides because of the “insults” the
singer had thrown, but also because of the racist subtext some noticed. The comments under the
post are mostly divided into two, with the other side defending Del Rey and then, on the other hand,
there are a lot of people defending the singers Del Rey mentioned, and even taking offence to
themselves. Of course, there were still people who didn’t think anything of it, didn’t notice any
subtext and just continued scrolling. This post works as a great example of how careful you need to
be when writing or saying something in today's world. Social media is a place where everything
spreads extremely fast, so once you put something in there, it won’t disappear anytime soon,
especially when you are a celebrity or someone people know. It is not just regarding the BLM (Black
Lives Matter) movement, because everything can be interpreted wrongly if you don’t be careful,
however, sometimes things will be interpreted the wrong way whatever you do or say.

Object 2. Ariana Grandes failed tattoo translation

Context:
In 2019, Ariana Grande took a new tattoo in Japanese however, the new hand tattoo stirred up a lot
of drama. The tattoo was supposed to pay tribute to her song “7 rings", but fans were quick to
notice that the meaning of the tattoo was entirely different. A silly mistake in translation from
English to Japanese led to Grande having a tattoo that means a Japanese style barbecue grill.
Connection to the prompt:
The small mistake in this tattoo works as a great example of what miscommunication or mistakes
and difficulties in translation can lead to. Translating languages overall can be very tricky. Language
often mirrors the culture and the people who speak the language. Polysemy can also be the cause of
misunderstandings and bad translations. Polysemy means that one single word can have many
different meanings. Some words are impossible to translate since they don’t even exist in any other
language, this makes each language unique.
Justification for including the object in the exhibition:
This object was chosen for this exhibition since it works as a good example of the language barrier
that exists between two very different languages and cultures. Language is one of the main factors
making communication of knowledge difficult. We use language to understand the world and to pass
on knowledge. As IB DP students, it is important for us to understand and reflect our own and the
world's problems into language and how we use it, in order to make dissemination of knowledge a
little bit easier.