Broken Nature: a public symposium

On Tuesday June 19, 2018, from 9:30am to 6:20am, La Triennale di Milano will present Broken Nature: a public symposium. This one-day event at Triennale Teatro dell’Arte will introduce some of the central topics of the XXII Triennale di Milano, titled Broken Nature: Design Takes on Human Survival and taking place from March 1 to September 1, 2019. Gathering an international group of designers, architects, scientists, curators, and thinkers from diverse background, the symposium will offer a dynamic exchange of opinions through presentations, panel conversations, video contributions, and keynote lectures. The day will be divided in four sections—Restorative Design, Magic Pragmatism, Complex Systems, and Long-Term Attitudes—that also act as investigative angles for the exhibition.

On this occasion, the XXII Triennale curatorial team, the Advisory Committee, and the invited speakers will strive to answer questions such as: how can designers, scientists, politicians, and scholars support all citizens in taking constructive action on urgent issues related to natural and social environments? What have they done in the past, and what do they plan for the future? How can they help move people’s focus beyond individual and immediate concerns, and instead amplify personal and discrete initiatives into nuanced collective, systemic, and long-term attitudes? What constitutes environmental awareness in the age of mass displacement, artificial intelligence, and rapid extinctions? What are some of the driving forces and intentions compelling so many curators and cultural organizations to produce exhibitions and programs around climate change and humans’ relationship with nature, and what kind of strategies are they employing? And many more.

Confirmed speakers are, in alphabetical order: Paola Antonelli (curator of XXII Triennale), Adam Bly, Formafantasma (video contribution), Rania Ghosn, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Gabriella Gómez-Mont, Michael John Gorman, Jamer Hunt, Sarah Ichioka, Koyo Kouoh, Khaled Malas, Stefano Micelli, Marina Otero Verzier, Elisa Pasqual, Mariana Pestana, Lorenzo Pezzani, and Maholo Uchida.

This symposium is the first in a series of public programs organized by the XXII Triennale team to provoke a lively discussion around Broken Nature’s central themes. Together with the digital platform, brokennature.org, these public events intend to bare the research process, and draw on the audience’s expertise and suggestions to further enhance the organization of the exhibition, driving curatorial mechanisms to be more participatory.

The event will be held in English with simultaneous translation into Italian, and will be live-streamed on La Triennale di Milano’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Discover the program: 
brokennature.org/public-symposium

Event free and open to the public
For inquiries, please contact: 
events@brokennature.org

For online registration: 
bit.ly/BROKEN_NATURE_SYMPOSIUM

About the XXII Triennale
Broken Nature: Design Takes on Human Survival studies the state of the strands that connect humans to the natural environment, some of which have been compromised—if not entirely severed—in recent history. By casting a wide net, the XXII Triennale underlines the importance of the concept of restorative design, and highlights design examples that repair and reconstitute our species’ bonds with the complex systems in the world around and within us. The curatorial team, led by Paola Antonelli and based in Milan and New York, will select and present design approaches that encourage a multifaceted and comprehensive reading of the issues threatening our collective existence; stimulate an appreciation of the systems in which individuals live and operate; and galvanize attitudes that consider life beyond the next few generations. 

The XXII Triennale will feature projects—from objects to buildings, and from interfaces to infrastructures and cities, at all scales, from the cosmos to the microbiome, and in all dimensions—that suggest plausible and concrete avenues for restorative design action.

In this ambitious endeavor, the curatorial team will be supported by an Advisory Committee of scholars and practitioners, including Adam Bly, Rania Ghosn, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Gabriella Gómez-Mont, Jamer Hunt, Sarah Ichioka, Koyo Kouoh, Stefano Micelli, and Maholo Uchida. Please refer to brokennature.org for more information about the program and the speakers’ biographies.