A Teach In : Design Beyond Decoration

A Collaboration with Where Are The Black Designers?

substack #42

Hi, I’m Bianca — Artist, Professor, & Creative Strategist in Los Angeles. In case you are new here or if a reminder could help, this newsletter began as an exploration of figuring things out, one day at a time. Upgrade to a paid subscription to make sure you never miss out on the really good stuff.

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Hi All,

I hope the new year has been as sweet and gentle as possible for everyone. Last year, I wrote about osoji - the Japanese tradition of year-end clearing. I skipped our January newsletters so I could take some time to clean, clear, and reset my writing and making practice.

During that time, I met Mitzi Okou - the incredible founder of Where Are The Black Designers (WATBD). WATBD exists to heal, support, amplify, and make space for the entire spectrum of Black creativity while also decolonizing design through education and wellness resources, events, partnerships, and collaborations.

Mitzi and I got together to do a little dreaming and I’m excited to share our first offering with you all!

Teach-In: Design Beyond Decoration

🇵🇸 🇨🇩 🇸🇩 Join us on February 15, 12 pm PST / 3 pm EST / 8 pm UK for a global teach-in to understand and apply creative frameworks to support current organizing for Palestine, Sudan, and Congo.

This teach-in is for creatives who want to deepen their relationship with social movements and develop meaningful applications for their work.

From supporting rapid response campaigns and creating cultural interventions to building better relationships with organizations and organizers, join me and Mitzi for this 90-minute session on 2/15.

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Week 3: Design Futures

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A post shared by @withbianca_

I’m a little over three weeks into teaching my new course “Design Futures: Lessons from Science Fiction and Social Justice” over at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. I’m so happy to be teaching a great group of graduate and undergraduate students this term.

Writing this curriculum, I asked: What lessons can creatives learn from science fiction and social justice movements to help them build better futures?

Last week I introduced different frameworks for understanding worldbuilding and power - from Sasha Costanza-Chock’s Design Justice and Octavia Butler’s Rules for Predicting the Future, to Rasheedah Phillips’ Black Quantum Futures and Deepa Iyer’s Social Change Ecosystem. We started to break down elements of Black Mirror and ask questions about the Pluriverse.

I’d like to share excerpts of my lectures, discussions, and exercises soon - so watch this space for more.

with care,
Bianca

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📮 RSVP Design Beyond Decoration
❓WATBD
📌 WATBD Job Board
📖 Design Justice
🔮 OEB on Predicting The Future
🌌 BQF
🌎 Designs For The Pluriverse

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