In an age of climate catastrophe and social reckoning, dreams and imagination are more important than ever. This is what inspired Dreams of Contra-Colonial Futures: a Futuress-curated symposium within the 2021 AIGA Conference. Moderated by Nina Paim and Cherry-Ann Davis, the program brought together four members of the Futuress community who connected through our past fellowship Against the Grain, a space to critically reflect on the designed past and the pastness of design. Lauren Williams spoke about making room for abolition and imagining a world without police and prisons. Javier Syquia questioned the term “Vernacular Design” in relation to designs from post-colonial, non-Euro American contexts. Zainab Marvi explored the concept of the feminist city by investigating women’s use of public transport in Karachi, Pakistan. Finally, Naïma Ben Ayed imagined alternatives for multi-script type design education in the North African context.
