Crip Spacetime and Utopias of Care

Exploring learnings from disabled artists and activists who envision utopias, emphasizing collective responsibility for care and access.

For too long, creating access for disabled people has been regarded as a “checkbox” to tick off, and as a charitable move by those included towards those who are excluded. However, the practice of a multitude of disabled and chronically ill artists and activists shows that different approaches can be possible: The U.S. performance collective Sins Invalid is a disability justice-based performance project based on the principles of leaving “no body-mind behind” and of centering the knowledge and needs of those most marginalized. Disabled and chronically ill artists such as Leah Lakshmi Piepzna Samarasinha (U.S.), the vacuum cleaner (U.K.), Sophia Neises (Germany) and Criptonite (Switzerland, the lecturer’s own theater collective) “crip” space and time, centering the needs of the disabled community in their work. This lecture gives a short overview of practices that dream up utopias and center care and access as a collective responsibility.

Nina Mühlemann (they/none) is an artist and theater and disability studies scholar based in Zurich, Switzerland. Nina holds a Ph.D. in Disability Studies and Performance Studies from King's College, London, U.K.. They are currently working on the research project “Aesthetics of the Im/Mobile” at Bern Academy of the Arts in Switzerland, researching im/mobile dance and theater practices of disabled artists. From 2018-2019, Nina was artistic co-director of the Future Clinic for Critical Care, a socio-cultural animated theater practice project. In 2020, Nina co-founded Criptonite with Edwin Ramirez, a crip queer theater project that centers the work of disabled artists. Criptonite’s 2022 piece “Pleasure” toured in Switzerland and internationally, and in October 2023, Criptonite premiered their most recent piece “Creature Comforts” at Tanzhaus Zürich. From 2024, Criptonite will receive funding from the city of Zurich for the next four years.

This lecture was part of Design Educators* Unite!—a lecture series for design teachers, researchers, and students that shares feminist practices from within.

Feb 22 | 6 pm CET – special free event
Roundtable Discussion
Navigating the Past, Envisioning the Future: Unearthing Feminist and Decolonial Threads in Design Education
with Cherrypye (she/her) Creator, Educator & Researcher
Clara Meliande (she/her) Designer, Researcher & Educator
and Josefina Vidal (she/her) Designer & Researcher

Mar 21 | 6 pm CET
Lecture
Otherwise Realities: Communal Care, Decolonization, and The Design School
with Layla Gharib (she/her)
Designer, Researcher & Educator

Apr 11 | 6 pm CEST
Lecture
Queering Design: Moving Towards Emergent Practices
with Sloan Leo Cowan (they/he)
Community Designer, Facilitator & Educator

May 2 | 6 pm CEST
Lecture
Social Design Practices: From the Popular Neighborhoods to the Faculty of Design
with Giuliana Córdoba (she/none)
and Emilia Odriozola (she/her)
from the Student Movement Auge FADU

June 6 | 6 pm CEST
Lecture
Feminist Killjoy Design Pedagogy: On Emphasizing Joy
with Elizabeth Chin (she/her)
Anthropologist & Ethnographer

June 13 | 6 pm CEST
Lecture
Design and Other Ways of Knowing
Ramia Mazé (she/her)
Design Researcher

June 19 | 6 pm CEST
Lecture
Crip Spacetime and Utopias of Care
with Nina Mühlemann (they/none)
Artist & Disability Scholar

July 4 | 6 pm CEST
Lecture
Mocha Celis: We Dare to Build the World We Want to Live In
with Francisco Quiñones Cuartas (she/he)
and Virginia Silveira (she/her)
from Travesti-Trans Non-binary Popular High School Mocha Celis