In this third warming up talk we speak to Mariana Pestana, curator of the fifth Istanbul Biennale entitled “Empathy Revisited: Designs for more than one” about what kind of ‘radical design imagination’ (Escobar 2018) the world needs, today.

In a nutshell, Mariana’s critical social practice investigates “the role that fiction can play in re-imagining futures for an age marked by technological progress and an ecological crisis.” Initially trained as an architect, Mariana lives and works between Porto and London where she has taught at Royal College of Art and Central St Martins. She is one of the co-founders of The Decorators, a collective that produces collaborative public interventions and cultural programs, such as Expedition Empathy (Azores, 2019). The publications she (co)edited over the past years speak volumes: “ The Future Starts Here ” Victoria and Albert Museum(2018); “Eco Visionaries: Towards an Interspecies Future” Matadero Madrid (2019).

References

• New Civic Rituals
  

For more information about In Search of the Pluriverse visit hnix.nl/pluriverse and follow @insearchofthepluriverse on Instagram.

Reference

• partaste.com/worldrecipes/pa-am…t-spain-catalonia/

In this second ‘warming up talk’ we meet Miquel Hervás Gómez, Catalan by birth, living and working for 10 years in Amsterdam. As a graphic designer Miquel embraces the idea of the ‘collective’. He is a member of design/research platform Fanfare and the online collaborative Carne Kids. In parallel to his design practice, Miquel teaches at both the Sandberg Institute and the Rietveld Academy and manages the bookbinding workshop BBBBgraBB for both institutions.

References

• Gerrit Rietveld Academie / Book binding workshop
  

For more information about In Search of the Pluriverse visit hnix.nl/pluriverse and follow @insearchofthepluriverse on Instagram.

In this talk we meet Joke Robaard, independent thinker and maker. Active since the 80s in the world of design. Deeply involved in art and education. Developed a broad framework to reflect on design, materiality, weaving. Recently co-authored the book Archive Species with Camiel van Winkel on her ever-growing collection of (fashion) images. In short: always traced her own course.

Does the idea of the Pluriverse as enunciated by Escobar in his 2018 book resonate with your practice, we asked.

References

• George Floyd, Black Lives Matter
  

For more information about In Search of the Pluriverse visit hnix.nl/pluriverse and follow @insearchofthepluriverse on Instagram.