Look. It’s been a bit of a year. Blatant white supremacy is on the rise, and our international peers are stripping away womens’ rights unabashed. Job security has faltered in our sector, as has the sense that we’re making the necessary progress against climate change. At times like this, we’re told that self-care is important – eat more fruit, be sure to exercise, don’t look at Twitter so much.
People who practice design – whose day-to-day work is to contribute to the making of worlds that we all inhabit – often feel too closely involved to step away. But what does it mean to stay with the trouble and stay well while you do? We think that design as a practice cannot be separated from local design communities, and that community is the most important support we have. We are in this together, and we should talk about that.
So, we’re hosting a quiet get-together. Somewhere cosy to talk about how we’re doing, what’s troubling us, and what’s been going well. There won’t be much in the way of structure – no organised speakers, no facilitated discussions, no chairs in a circle. A few of us have been doing this every fortnight for over a year now, and we’d like to open the doors to you.
This is technically the June Design and Ethics event, even though it’s being held in July, and to be totally honest – we haven’t figured out where to meet yet. We’ll make sure it’s cosy though. At this stage, we’re making 15 ‘tickets’ available on Eventbrite to keep things manageable. We acknowledge that this immediately creates barriers to participation; please feel free to get in touch if you have concerns. If you register for a ticket and feel you will be unable to make it, please release the ticket to the waitlist.
This event is being organised on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. Sovereignty over these lands and waters was never ceded, and we acknowledge the resilience in the face of ongoing colonisation. We pay our respects to Elders past, present, and emerging.
Tags: Design and Ethics Series
