Critic Machine with Friedrich von Borries and Hafiz Rancajale
We all have an image of what design is: the shaping of the objects that surround us. What is political about that? Nothing at first. But design does become political when we start seeing more in it than the shaping of our environment’s surfaces. Friedrich von Borries, architect and Professor of Design Theory and Curatorial Practice at the Hochschule für Bildende Kunst Hamburg, talks about his concept of design as an emancipatory praxis that intervenes in the world in order to change and improve it. His lecture will be followed by Hafiz Rancajale’s perspective on the very same question. Is design political in Indonesia? If yes, in what ways? What does certain design tell us about the context it evolved from? How does design shape today’s society? Or is design a purely aesthetical matter after all with no strings attached?
After the lectures both speakers will engage in a discussion with the audience.
Friedrich von Borries, architect and professor of Design Theory at the Hochschule für bildende Künste (HFBK) in Hamburg, Germany, operates at the intersection of urban planning, architecture, design, and art. His work focuses on the relationship between design practice and socio-political developments. “As scientists we try to comprehend the world. As designers we try to change it. We engage with the big questions of our time―global economic inequality, environmental destruction and climate change, technologies of surveillance, and security policies―by drawing on the tools of both, research and design.”
Hafiz Rancajale was born in Pekanbaru in 1971. He studied Fine Arts in Jakarta Institute of Art (IKJ) and co-founded the collectives ruangrupa and Forum Lenteng. The work of ruangrupa focuses mainly on art practice, while Forum Lenteng is a non-profit organization working with communities to develop knowledge on media and art. In 2003, he initiated OK.Video Jakarta International Video Festival and worked as its Artistic Director until 2011. In 2013 he was appointed the Head of the Fine Art Committee in Jakarta Arts Council and cofounded ARKIPEL International Documentary and Experimental Film Festival. Since 2014, he also curates Indonesian contemporary art and design. Recently, he was part of the curator team for the Indonesian Pavilion at London Design Biennale 2016. Hafiz lives and works as artist, curator, and researcher in Jakarta.
About Critic Machine (Kritikmaschine)
Kursbuch and Goethe-Institut see themselves as places for critical discourse. That’s why in 2016 they jointly host the global lecture-series “Kritikmaschine” (Critic Machine). Kursbuch authors together with intellectuals from the respective host country speak about things that are currently on the minds of many in Germany and those countries. Speakers include Kursbuch editor Armin Nassehi on social criticism, journalist Meredith Haaf on the new feminism, architect Friedrich von Borries on political design and historian Sabine Donauer on work in digital society. Intellectuals from the respective guest countries will respond to the lectures.
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