From Ancestral Design to Future Aesthe/Tech (Session 1 of 2)

For this multipart workshop, each participant should come prepared with some kind of symbol, motif, iconography, or design concept from their own ancestral heritage(s) that resonate for them and from which they would like to reimagine and redesign for the future by way of technology into a physical object, a multimedia audio/visual piece, a virtual experience—or anything else you can envision.

We'll look for inspiration to the Indigenous Futurism movement in art and design; a speculative exploration by Indigenous contemporary creative practitioners around the globe with regard to ancestral ideas, aesthetics, and creative practices, reimagined and manifest into the world via contemporary tools, technologies, and a decolonial vision for the future.

From this, you'll then begin to work through ideas from your own heritage(s) through collaborative group discussion, to help you to come up with a specific project to produce from this. [Session 2 will focus on the further development and actual creation, based on your idea, into a prototype or finished piece of work during ITP Camp.]

*Pictured: My own reimagining of the face of a Tumi (a ceremonial knife typical of the Inca Empire and Pre-Incan ancestral cultures of my homeland, Peru) made from thick laser-cut perspex, backed with silver enamel.