Dear colleagues
we are thrilled to present the program of the upcoming Swiss Design Network Summit in March, hosted by the FHNW Academy of Art and Design in Basel: Beyond Change: Questioning the role of design in times of global transformation.
Please check out the detailed program in the text below or on our website: http://www.beyondchange.ch/front
Looking forward to seeing many of you in Basel soon!
Best wishes,
Prof. Dr. Claudia Mareis, on behalf of the Swiss Design Network
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Beyond Change:
Questioning the role of design in times of global transformations
Swiss Design Network Summit
March 8–10, 2018
FHNW Academy of Art and Design Basel
With keynotes by Benjamin Bratton, Cheryl Buckley, Beatriz Colomina, Kenny Cupers, Kjetil Fallan und Ramia Mazé and Mia Charlene White, among many other speakers, and debating platforms by Decolonising Design Group, Depatriarchise Design, and Precarity Pilot.
Current discourse in design research, art, cultural studies, media studies, philosophy, and the social sciences is dominated by the much-debated concept of the “Anthropocene,” which claims that we are entering a new geological age determined primarily by the effects of human activity on the planet. It has been used to increase awareness of the negative influence of our actions on climate and the environment, and thus on the terms and conditions of our long-term survival. Against the backdrop of ongoing catastrophe and normalised crisis, the image of designers as problem-solvers and shapers of material-visual culture is constantly evoked. Designers are expected to come to the rescue and to draft speculative scenarios, construct artificial worlds, and develop smart solutions. In short: design is wielded as a catalyst for global change.
But isn’t this image of the designer as an omnipotent problem-solver itself problematic? What if design is not the solution, but very much complicit in the problems it wants to solve? At this point, we feel compelled to ask: How can design truly contribute to a more just society and sustainable forms of living without compromising bottom-up initiatives and marginalising the voices of those who are most directly affected?
Design cannot change anything before it changes itself. The conference “Beyond Change: Questioning the role of design in times of global transformation” is a critical response to the tendency of seeing global crisis first and foremost as a worldwide design competition. How can we reimagine design as an unbounded, queer, and unfinished practice that approaches the world from within instead of claiming an elevated position? How, for once, can we see design as a situated practice instead of turning it into the Global North’s escape and problem-solving strategy? How can we think about one world without falling into planetary-scale thinking and the idea that resilience is our only hope?
Full Program: http://www.beyondchange.ch
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Further information
The conference program includes sessions and discussions on histories of sustainability, slow living, sustainable materials, sustainable urbanism, commons, indigenous knowledge, artisanal design, the politics of objects, radical pedagogies, and more.
Side program
Screening of Storytelling for Earthly Survival by Fabrizio Terranova followed by a performance curated by A Walking Contradiction collective & Sarah Reid, at HeK (House of Electronic Arts Basel).
Building Platforms
During the three days of the conference, the foyer of the HGK FHNW will be inhabited by three design platforms that each problematise the role of design from within the discipline itself: Decolonising Design Group, Depatriarchise Design, and Precarity Pilot. With the aim of fostering an intersectional debate on the politics of design within practice, theory, and academic research – with particular focus on race, ethnicity, gender, and class – the three platforms will collectively activate a given space – a single two-storey scaffold of the kind used in civil construction. In this temporary structure, the three initiatives are invited to present their practices while proposing diverse communal modes of knowledge exchange beyond traditional academic conference formats.
This will be accompanied by a pop-up library, containing selected books, magazines, articles, and other materials, as well a directory of similar platforms and initiatives from around the world, collected through an open call.
Online Ticketoffice: http://www.beyondchange.ch
Registration is individual and grants access to all keynote presentations, sessions, panel discussions, workshops, and screenings as detailed in the program. It also includes one aperitif on the evening of Thursday, March 8, and coffee breaks and lunch on Friday, March 9, and Saturday, March 10.
Cost: CHF 160 (full fare) or CHF 80 (reduced fare).
For students and PhD candidates, upon presenting proof of enrollment (student card or matriculation certificate) at the conference registration desk.
Venue
FHNW Academy of Art and Design
Freilagerplatz 1
4053 Basel
Switzerland
Conference Host
The FHNW Academy of Arts and Design in Basel offers seven bachelor and four master degree courses in art, design, and art and design education and research. The school is located on the Campus of the Arts in the Basel Dreispitz area, close to several cultural institutions such as Kunsthaus Baselland, Schaulager, and the House of Electronic Arts.
Swiss Design Network (SDN)
Since 2004, the Swiss Design Network has brought together the Swiss Universities of Design and Art, campaigning for recognition and support for design research at the highest international level. Up to today, SDN has organised nine internationally recognised conferences and has published their findings. Its tasks include supporting workshops and publications, promoting young talent, and maintaining contact and interaction between design researchers, institutions, universities, and institutes.
Conference Chairs
Dr. Massimo Botta, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, SUPSI
Prof. Dr. Davide Fornari, Ecole Cantonale d’art de Lausanne, ECAL
Prof. Dr. Claudia Mareis, FHNW Academy of Art and Design Basel
Isabel Rosa Müggler Zumstein, Lucerne School of Art and Design, HSLU
Prof. Dr. Sarah Owens, Zurich University of the Arts, ZHDK
Prof. Dr. Arne Scheuermann, Bern University of the Arts, BUA
Prof. Dr. Anne-Catherine Sutermeister, University of Art and Design Geneva, HEAD
Credits
Conference host: FHNW Academy of Art and Design, Basel
Coordination: Prof. Dr. Claudia Mareis, Nina Paim, and Sarah Haug
“Building Platforms” concept and organisation: Nina Paim and Julia Sommerfeld
Program consulting: Vera Sacchetti
Graphic design: Corinne Gisel and Nina Paim
Typeface: Papanekst by Dinamo Typefaces
Website: Jakub Straka
Copy-editing: Phil Baber
Contact
Further Information on Beyond Change
FHNW Academy of Art and Design
Institute Experimental Design and Media Cultures
Prof. Dr. Claudia Mareis, Nina Paim
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