The Department of Architecture is pleased to present the Multicultural Futuring Symposium– an exhibition, a panel discussion & workshop. Together, these events highlight the interconnected nature of Afro and Indigenous Futurisms and their necessary role in promoting social and environmental justice. All events are free and open to the public.
Featuring:
Dr. Bayo Akomolafe, speaker, teacher, public intellectual, author, and facilitator, globally recognized for his poetic, unconventional, counterintuitive, and indigenous take on global crisis, civic action, and social change.
Chris Cornelius, citizen of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and Chair of the Department of Architecture at the University of New Mexico. He is the founding principal of studio: indigenous, a design practice serving Indigenous clients.
Olalekan Jeyifous, Brooklyn-based artist whose work re-imagines social spaces that examine the relationships between architecture, community, and the environment.
GALLERY RECEPTION: Monday, April 24th, 4:00-5:00 at the Design Building Gallery - gound floor next to cafe
Title: Look who’s shining again (Oh My My MY)
PANEL DISCUSSION: Monday, April 24th, 5:00-6:30 at the Design Building Lecture Hall - next to the gallery
Title: Formations of Afro & Indigenous Futurisms with Bayo Akomolafe, Chris Cornelius & Olalekan Jeyifous
Moderated by Sandy Litchfield and Ray Kinoshita Mann
WORKSHOP: Tuesday, April 25th, 3–5pm at the Design Building Roof Deck (3rd floor) - in bad weather this will take place in the Design Building Gallery (ground floor)
Title: Becoming-Black with Bayo Akomolafe
This is specifically addressed to students (undergrad and grad), but all are welcome. The offerings are, in Dr. Akomolafe’s words, “an embodiment of what I sense is some of my deepest work – to open up new places of power and responsivity; to make space for the otherwise; to help in the partial recuperation of our vital connections with land, place and people; and, to live a small, intimate life.”
SPONSORS & PARTNERS: ADVANCE Mutual Mentoring Grant: Transdisciplinary Future Studies; College of Humanities & Fine Arts and the Lois E. Toko Lecture Series; Institute for Holocaust, Genocide, and Memorial Studies; the UMass Departments of Architecture, Art History, English, History, Afro-American Studies, and Earth Geographic & Climate Sciences; Civic Engagement and Service-Learning; Mount Holyoke Spiro Fund; Native Advisory Council; Five College Native American Studies; Design Building Gallery; School of the Earth & Sustainability; Council for the Uncertain Human Future; UMass Art Sustainability Activism