Assembly #1 took place on Saturday, 24th October 2015 at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London as part of the Crafts Council’s nationwide Make:Shift:Do programme.
Highlights
Watch the talks on YouTube
View the slides on Slideshare
Sessions and speakers
Session 1: Diversity & Equality
Janet Gunther
An American/British activist, anthropologist, co-founder of the Restart Project.
Phoenix Perry
Professor, CS PhD researcher, game company owner, artist, programmer, game designer, activist + lunatic extraordinaire.
Session 2: Learning from Historical Perspectives
Dean Brown
A London-based designer with an interest in concept retail, narrative driven installations and cultural artefacts.
Adrian Smith
Researcher of society, technology and politics at Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex.
Session 3: Making in the City
Dr. Rebecca Ross
Communication Design Course Leader at Central Saint Martins. Work at the intersection of visual culture, interaction design, and urban studies.
Liz Corbin
Researcher, maker, collector, curator and eternal student of materials. Founder of Open Workshop Network.
Tomas Diez
Making stuff at Fab Lab Barcelona – IAAC. Smart Citizen and Studio P52 co-founder. Urbanist and technologist
Session 4: Architects of the Future
Nat Hunter and James Tooze
Nat is strategic director at Machines Room makerspace. James is a design consultant, researcher and lecturer at Royal College of Art.
Conversation
Our aim is for Assembly to catalyse a critical and reflective conversation about making. We would like to hear a greater diversity of views, and develop a richer understanding of maker culture, the opportunities and challenges we face, and the role of making within a wider social, political, historical and environmental context.
We would like this conversation to extend beyond the day itself, and outside the room. Please join us on Twitter, continue the conversation at makerspaces and meetups, and share your ideas, reflections or links with us. You can email us at: makerassembly@gmail.com