STUDENT REFLECTIONS ON THE INAUGURAL ROUNTABLE DISCUSSION WITH JENNIFER GABRYS, PAULO TAVARES AND MICHAEL UWEMEDIMO
Lea Helfenstein, Yassine Rachidi, Nadja Nievergelt | 2023
Within the framework of the public conversation series South Designs: Planetary Futures, which explores how design, thought and practiced from the South, forges planetary futures, students from Critical Urbanisms are asked to share their reflections on the respective conversation and how each speaker answers to the question; What do design responses to ecological crisis look like when they are grounded in the aspirations and struggles of those most affected, predominantly residing in the Global South? Three reflections from students on the inaugural roundtable discussion have been selected to be published.
Lea Helfenstein critically reflects on the trope of the South and asks the question: "Does using tropes such as the South for political purposes simultaneously make them seem “natural”? Imagine if this conversation were held by someone who had no exposure to the language of academic writing and political agenda. What words might they employ, and what alternative viewpoints might arise?”
Yassine Rachidi’s reflections focus on the approach of Paulo Tavares and suggest: "While plants in colonial botany literature are often deemed as tools to read an empire’s impregnation in the indigenous landscape, Tavares uses plants as a forensic tool to prove the presence of past indigenous settlements and challenges prevailing narratives of erasure and dispossession.”
"The Amazon rainforest, often depicted as a haven of pristine, untouched wilderness, holds a dark and violent history” is also the point of departure for the reflections of Nadja Nievergelt who states: “Beneath the green canopy, away from the idyllic and romanticized narratives, awaits us a tale of brutal dispossession and colonial exploitation of indigenous populations. As we peel back these layers of illusion, we are also confronted to reevaluate our understanding of the true essence of nature, its representation in popular narratives, confront the ongoing impact of colonial history, and consider both history’s and nature's role in contemporary planning and development.”
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