Virtual Colloquium: The Freedom to Be Free

Virtual Colloquium / Designmethoden
Winter semester 2024/25, Berlin University of the Arts (UdK)

The Freedom to Be Free

“Wherever men, women, or children are to be found, whether they be old or young, rich or poor, high or low…ignorant or learned, every individual is seen to be strongly actuated by a desire to be seen, heard, talked of, approved and respected by the people about him and within his knowledge.”, John Adams as cited in Hannah Arendt’s ‘Freedom to be free’

Today, cultural spaces – that we as designers and artists are a part of – seem to have become a battleground for intense political confrontations on many complex topics that impact all of our lives. These spaces are set under great pressure while also being confronted with resistance and boycotts. We are also witnessing the growing ‘echo chambers’ in contemporary debate, often avoiding differences of opinions and forms of expression in an anticipatory obedience, shying away from conflicts of viewpoints as well as reflective dialogue, and ultimately leading to greater divides and polarization in communities. As a result of the current turbulent times, we have set out to explore as part of this semester’s Virtual Colloquium what it means to be free as designers and artists in today’s society and how we can meaningfully contribute to the communities and spaces that we inhabit.

As part of the Colloquium we will invite artists, activists, and scholars to present and discuss with us their perspectives on the topic of Freedom to Be Free from their different points of view including freedom as a lived / designed practice, decolonialism through design, representation of marginalized communities, the problem of radicalization of online spaces and more. Furthermore, the UdK students will use design interventions to create conceptual design objects that reflect on different aspects of the topics discussed. The students will also work with A.I. image generation tools to reflect on the discussions and explore how A.I. “sees” the respective aspects, how biases might be prevailing and how technology influences our worldviews.

Co-chairs: Prof. Dr. Gesche Joost & Žarko Dumičić
Start date: 17.10.2024, 09:30 – 11:00 a.m. online on Zoom
Colloquium Time: Thursdays, 09:30 – 11:00 a.m. (Berlin-time)
Colloquium Venue: Zoom (online classes) & Berlin Open Lab at UdK (in-person classes)
+ 2 Museum Visits: 14.11. & 05.12.2024

If you would like to join the sessions, please send an email with your name and details to Žarko Dumičić at .

The Zoom link to join: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82954605489?pwd=VP3XBDzVogeuQtLWaXbWEFpm9ObxiQ.1

The topic of Freedom – in the sense of freedom of expression and freedom of speech, but furthermore as a societal concept deeply entangled with our democracy and open society – has a long tradition and rich body of knowledge. In this Colloquium, we will not go into details of the philosophical stances but take one specific argumentation as a starting point – Hannah Arendt’s essay ‘Freedom to be free’ that asks us to contemplate on the conditions of freedom in our everyday life and on our ability to take part in public affairs. 

Freedom as a topic has high relevance to our university, design institutions, and to the artistic and designerly practice of our community. Therefore, we will work to understand the status quo: including its complexities and implications for all of us on different levels – on a personal level as citizens, students, teachers, designers, artists, on an institutional level as a university, on a community level in our different roles and networks. Aim is to come to an individual or a possibly collective Haltung, as we are part of the cultural spaces and can participate in making a difference. 

More details about the schedule and guests will be shared soon!