Journal

For the Changing Worlds Conference, we tried to experiment with the format of an academic conference. We learned as we went, and were definitely a lot more adventurous in the second year of the event.

The whole experiment started when a group of master’s students with a wide range of disciplinary and personal backgrounds came together to imagine and later execute the conferences. We noticed early on that we all had different expectations for what a conference might look and feel like. And being social scientists, we decided to explore what that might mean.

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And the conference is over. I wish I had found the time to take more pictures of all the signs and other print products and decorations we made for the conference besides pink and purple paper puffs, but I was too busy.

You can have a look at the conference program if you want to know more about the conference topics and exhibitions.

The image above shows some of the print products we made for the conference, in our continuous effort to make it feel less like a stuffy academic event and more like a space for exchange, curiosity and experimentation.

Turns out organizing a conference with loads of experimental features and events (such as a sound performance installation and an art exhibition) is even more work than organizing a “regular” academic conference. But it was definitely worth the extra effort.

It was a wonderful event and we got lots of positive feedback from everyone attending!

I have been incredibly busy lately, but last week the 2nd installment conference I have been organising took place. And we made lots of decorations. Paper puffs!

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New conference year, new poster! It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but somehow printed artifacts make a project or event feel “more real”.

We went with a similar style as for the last conference, but this time I chose to do a digital illustration since that makes the individual elements reusable.

The main idea is the same as for the first conference poster in 2014, but our choice of artifacts reflects that this instalment of the conference focuses more on art and activism. While both the artwork and topic of the first conference were leaning more towards historical reflections, this year’s vibe is both a bit dystopian and very playful.

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The poster for the first Changing Worlds Conference is off to the printers!

With this poster I wanted to illustrate the multiplicity of human experiences that is also the basis for the name of the conference, ”Changing Worlds”.

We are used to seeing maps of the world centering (and disproportionately enlarging) Europe and North America. So the first decision we made when we decided to put a globe on the poster was to duplicate it to feature all continents.It was very interesting since deviating from the image most people are used to is confusing at first. The 3 globes also appear in different styles, highlighting that maps are always purpose-driven rather than neutral objects.

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