Agents for Change: Women in Design
Agents for Change: Women in Design is the 2024 iteration of Design Tasmania’s long-standing colloquium showcasing women leading diverse fields of contemporary design. The event takes place 1-2 November 2024.
Delivered at Design Tasmania’s Launceston gallery since 2015, Women in Design draws delegates from all over Australia for discussion, networking, knowledge exchange and professional development. The annual event is devoted to supporting an all-female speaker event, in the field of contemporary design.
After nine successful years, Women in Design has attracted professional and emerging participants from all over Australia to converge in Launceston Tasmania, creating an intimate environment for succession, discussion and professional development. For this year’s event curated by Harriet Edquist and Helen Norrie, the aims are twofold.
In the first instance to focus on the visibility of women in fields adjacent to design in order to show how their work helps to question and shape the cultural infrastructure of a successful design environment. We will hear from three senior women active in publishing, exhibition, collections and events – Megan Patty (NGV), Karen Burns (Melbourne School of Design) and Justine Clark (Parlour). A panel discussion with the three speakers, led by Professor Edquist, will follow.
Secondly, the focus will turn to designers who are expanding practice paradigms to create new design eco-systems through design research systems-thinking and collaborating across disciplines and with community. An afternoon session will be convened by Dr Norrie, with six pioneering Australian designers presenting a particular aspect of their practice in a series of rapid-fire short presentations. A round table discussion will follow to discuss how their various practices explore new paradigms, create emergent design ecosystems, and the value of working collectively to create new ecosystems that support diverse design futures.
Participants include: Simone Bliss, landscape architect; Emma Bugg, jewellery practitioner and artist; Vanessa Ward, systems-led regenerative design; Marta Figueirdeo, speculative furniture maker and multidisciplinary artist; Marlo Lyda, furniture maker and curator; Liz Walsh, architect.
Image credit: Melanie Kate Photography