Indigenous design? New perspectives on decolonising design

Part of the decolonisation call in the history of design is the acknowledgement that cultures are an ever-changing, organic phenomenon, and that they evolve and constantly interact with each other. The ability to adapt and adopt has often been crucial to the survival of some cultures in the face of colonisation. Such recognition challenges the notions of the ‘traditional’ and ‘indigenous’ in design and invites a provocative question: to what extent are they still valid categories today?

While bearing in mind the terminological inaccuracy of the phrase ‘indigenous design,’ this panel invites papers that interrogate examples of what such design, considered from the global perspective. It particularly welcomes views offered from the point of local communities across the world and those that offer new methodological approaches. Examples can range from adoption of indigenous design in dominant cultures, adaptiveness of indigenous design to modernity, recent changes in institutional practices of display and collecting, or attempts at preservation of traditional customs.