DEEM SYMPOSIUM
Designing for Dignity 01:
A Convening of Possibilities
On March 4th, 2023, participants were invited to experience thought-provoking presentations and conversations both IRL and virtually from intersecting voices across disciplines and generations, with a special reverence for the city of Chicago, which held this experience for us.
Explore the programming recaps
Kahlil Joseph and
jada-amina
Following the screening of BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions, Joseph and jada-amina discussed his approach to the archive and why institutions need to center Black stories on Black terms.
Brendan
Fernandes
A participatory keynote that moved between speaking and movement, asking the room to see institutions as living spaces grounded in dignity, care, and belonging.
Curry J. Hackett, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, and Patricia Nguyen moderated by Ari Melenciano
A conversation on imagination as a working method, and how speculative work across art, design, and world-building can test ideas and open up alternative realities.
The Black School (Joseph Cuillier and Shani Peters Cuillier)
Opening with a lecture on the traditions of Black New Orleans, participants turned prompts into phrases, poses, movements, and sounds, which the room performed as one shared declaration: a living manifesto for liberatory design.
Debra Yepa-Pappan, Carrie Sandahl, Scott Vincent Campbell moderated by Elijah McKinnon
Drawing on Deem’s forthcoming issue, Inventing the Institution, the panelists looked at how Chicago’s institutions have been built through improvisation and mutual aid, and what those lessons offer for building with dignity and equity.
Torkwase Dyson
A talk on water infrastructure and the extractive industries that shape it, and on Black Compositional Thought, her framework for how paths and architectures take shape through Black life.
Reference
Room
We organized a three-day Reference Room, located at the MCA and adjacent to the theater, that provided a public gathering space in which anyone could encounter and experience reading materials that have inspired our five print issues. Literature in the form of books, articles, and essays reflected thoughtlines in our research, specific mentions from our pages, and recommendations from our contributors. It was our intention to create context and access to educational tools around Deem’s processes and beliefs, as well as a haven for reflection and repose.
Room Dossier