Design is in crisis: Or, at the very least, in massive transition, exploring and rediscovering its
potential during deeply problematic times. Real World: Design, Politics, Future the Papanek Symposium 2019, investigates design’s
inherent tensions in the context of rising global far-right populism and the asphyxiating manipulation of information in a
post-truth era.
What potential is there for envisaging alternative political futures, and what
role might design, and its politics, have in contributing to those futures? Strands of contemporary design practice proffer
a critical, and often apocalyptic and dystopic vision of the future, while others happily conform to a financial system that
demands a new consumable product for each and every multifarious context. The stakes for design have never been higher, as
its interventions are dispersed across all aspects of the informational, virtual and material strata that shape our real worlds.
The Papanek Symposium 2019, organised by Alison J. Clarke and Francisco Laranjo in partnership with the Porto Design
Biennale, debates both the future, and the future of design: the places, ideas and means by which the politics of design,
and the design of politics come together. Speakers include Ramia Mazé, Flavia Dzodan, Akwugo Emejulu, Natsai Audrey Chieza,
Sasha Costanza-Chock, Ahmed Ansari, Cameron Tonkinwise and Annelys de Vet. A series of workshops and open forums will be led
by the Decolonising Design Group.
Public event, free of charge. Event conducted in English language.
Venue:
Biblioteca Municipal Almeida Garrett, Porto, Portugal.
SpeakersRektor Dr. Gerald Bast
Univ. Prof. Dr. Alison J. Clarke
Francisco Laranjo
Ahmed Ansari
Ramia Mazé
Flavia Dzodan
Natsai
Audrey Chieza
Sasha Costanza-Chock
Cameron Tonkinwise
Annelys de Vet
Decolonising Design Group
PartnersPorto Design Biennale
Decolonising Design Group
More information:
https://papanek.org/symposium-2019/https://www.damnmagazine.net/calendar/papanek-symposium-2019/