design miami / miami 2023

On the occasion of Design Miami/ 2023, dieDAS did present a private, student-facing workshop followed by a public panel discussion exploring the topic of monuments. Both events did take place on December 9th at the revered international design fair’s Talks Theater. The public-facing talk did run from 14:00 until 15:00 EST.
 
At this pivotal moment, as we reckon with and reimagine public monuments around the globe, dieDAS and Design Miami/ invite experts in design, art and architecture to reflect on the responsibility of communicating complex histories and creating spaces for healing. What stories do the monuments we erect tell? And whose voices are excluded or included? The panel conversation, titled Monumental, delves into the future of monuments in public spaces and the ways they can represent a more inclusive story of humankind - past, present, and future.
 
In the private, educational workshop, entitled Claim Your History, these same experts did guide local Miami students in an in-depth look at informal and formal monuments. The discussion did explore the significance of historical and contemporary monuments to local communities, including the values they embody; the roles they play in connecting to a communities’ past and present; and—in looking forward—how they might ensure a sense of continuity, and/or serve as tools, deeply rooted in place, for reclamation, healing, and honoring identity.

The events did bring together four distinguished participants:

These events are a continuation of the dieDAS 2023 fellowship program entitled Monumental Affairs - Living with Contested Spaces led by Germane Barnes this summer at the Saalecker Werkstätten (Germany), which brought together fellows Adam Maserow, Antoinette Yetundi, Silvia Susanna and Yassine Ben Abdallah. Throughout the fellowship, the fellows interrogated the process of canonization in architecture and delved into inquiries related to monument construction, the inheritance of oppression, and alternative histories.

The topic is, as well, a natural fit for Design Miami/ 2023’s curatorial theme, Where We Stand. As Curatorial Director Anna Carnick says, “This year’s fair considers the role design plays both in reflecting and responding to the world around us—throughout history and at this pivotal, polarized moment. Celebrating objects inspired by place, identity, and heritage, the theme is an invitation to delve into the storytelling power of design, and, in turn, its potential for nurturing connectivity. The subject of monuments is a rich, complex, and important part of this conversation. We are extremely proud to have had dieDAS, Germane Barnes, Nina Cooke Johnson, Jha D Amizi, and Adam Nathaniel Furman participate—and grateful for what I know will be incredibly thoughtful conversations.” . To learn more, visit designmiami.com.