Over nine days between Sept 14 – 22 2019, a curriculum for a new type of Design School was built inside the V&A Museum. Everyday different people became the facilitators of the ever changing space. In collaboration with the public they built learning experiences that helped us all think differently about design, the world, and the relationship between the two.
The Curriculum looked like something like this:
>>>
SATURDAY 14 :: THE SCHOOL OF NOW
Breaking News, Making to Report > 12:00 – 16:00
with Protest Press
Kicking off this week of collective civic action is Protest Press who are inviting you to make your very own piece of creative citizen journalism. Using twitter you will respond to the pressing questions being raised by people in the current moment. Drop by for as long as you like.
>>>
SUNDAY 15 :: THE SCHOOL OF SPECULATION
Imagined worlds > 12:00 – 16:00
with Pierre Shaw & Kishan San
Dive head-first into the future with the architects behind the School of Speculation. It’s a troubling future, where data is lost and technology has won. Have a go at speculating your way towards a new world order. Experiences kicks off on the hour between 12:00 and 16:00.
>>>
MONDAY 16 :: A SCHOOL WHO LISTENS
Make better ears > 11:00 – 15:00
with Akvile Terminaite, Debbie Poon, and Michael Tsang
Get stuck-in to making your own listening devices with a student design collective who cares about listening. Let’s turn our attention to the stories of the people and places in our everyday lives. Drop-in workshop.
Children can teach > 13:00 – 15:00
with year six students from Bethnal Green
The roles are reversed. Children are teaching adults. A new social contract. Let’s take a moment to understand what we can learn when we really listen and understand the perspectives of younger people. Those too frequently ignored.
>>>
TUESDAY 17 :: A SCHOOL FOR THE PLURIVERSE
Collective essay making > 11:00 – 14:00
with OPEN
Take part in a ‘collective essay sprint’ with the team behind OPEN at the RCA. Drop-in anytime with an open mind and an open heart, and join them in building more diverse, emotional and plural spaces for learning.
Decolonising futures > 14:00 – 16:00
with Anne Pordes Bowers
What do YOU think the future looks like? Help expand the way we describe the future and how we talk about the past and the present. Join social polymath Anne Bowers at any point in the afternoon to build collective stories of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Drop-in at any time.
>>>
WEDNESDAY 18 :: A SCHOOL FOR CHANGE
Sound spa creative visualisation > 10.15-11.30 & 12.15-13.30
with thinkpublic
Join social entrepreneur Deborah Szebeko to explore the role that ancient wisdoms hold in solving the complex environmental and social challenges of our time. Please arrive ten minutes before the start time and bring a yoga mat. Spaces are limited.
Open climate > 14:00 – 16:00
Come along anytime in the afternoon for an open space focussing on the climate emergency. What does the planet need from us now?
Anthropocene: Can design restore our relationship with the planet?
with Sam Parkin
This open workshop will dive into the history of the Nature vs. Society dualism. Joining the dots between the world views that underpin industrial society, colonial expansion, modernist progress narratives and climate change fatalism. This workshop will provide us with tools for considering the role that design can play in the challenges of the Anthropocene.
>>>
THURSDAY 19 :: A SCHOOL FOR CARE
The walk of care > 11:00 – 12.30
with Alice Osborne
Join a guided walk of care in and around the museum, led by designer and new mother Alice Osborne. Walk with the people we care for, care about, and people we have never met. Meet at the Design School ten minutes before 11am.
Making a care-filled world > 14:00 – 16:00
Sit down throughout the afternoon with people who care. Make, build, propose ways for care to be a bigger part of all our worlds. Open space. Drop-in freely.
>>>
FRIDAY 20 :: A SCHOOL OF ME WE
Head wraps and conversations > 11:00 – 14:00
with Nkechi Noel and Sylvia Emodi
Through, cloth, culture and conversations explore the intricate art of African head wrapping, and join creative producer Nkechi Noel and textile artist Sylvia Emodi in a conversation about playfulness creativity and self expression. Be styled with a head wrap of your choice by Sylvia. Drop-in anytime.
Walk-in think-tank > 14:00 – 19:00
with Ollie George
Walk into a think-tank for an unknown collective world, uncovered with Ollie George. Create a radical myth station. Open up a poetic imagination club. Redesign the open manifesto train. Let’s join forces to design the experiences for a speculative landscape of learning. Walk-in anytime.
Teaching to the future > 18:00 – 20:00
with Rebecca English
An open discussion with teachers about their practice, their network, and their take on the future.
>>>
SATURDAY 21 :: A SCHOOL FOR ACTION
Make your freak flag > 11:00 – 15:00
with Tabassum Aktar
Join artist and activist Tabassum Aktar who has turned her hijab into a superhero cape. She is inviting you to create your very own wearable flag to represent your views, faith, and your purpose in this complicated world. Drop-in freely.
Collective sail making > 14:00 – 17:00
with Annie Yonkers
Join designer Annie Yonkers, and other makers as we start to build a collective sail to take us into the future of creative learning and social justice. Drop-in anytime.
a design school for anyone, made by everyone. 