RSVP for Reverberations in Dialogue: Lineages of Design and Design History, Tuesday, March 25th at 6pm

Join us for an evening of thought-provoking conversation at the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice on March 25, 2025.

About the Event

In the ever-evolving landscape of design, the question of lineage remains crucial: Who influences us? How is knowledge passed on? What legacies shape our practices? These fundamental inquiries drive Reverberations in Dialogue: Lineages of Design and Design History, an engaging panel discussion featuring distinguished designers, artists, and educators.

Moderated by Reverberations co-curators Brian Johnson and Silas Munro, the panel brings together an esteemed group of practitioners: Saki Mafundikwa, Jackson Polys, Ramon Tejada, and Kelly Walters. Through their diverse experiences and creative trajectories, the conversation will explore the ways in which design is inherited, adapted, and transformed across generations and cultural contexts.

About the Speakers

Saki Mafundikwa

A pioneering force in African typography, Saki Mafundikwa is the founder and director of the Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts (ZIVA), the first design and new media training college in Harare, Zimbabwe. With an MFA in Graphic Design from Yale University, Mafundikwa returned to Zimbabwe in 1998 after working in New York City as a designer and educator. His seminal book, Afrikan Alphabets: The Story of Writing in Afrika, is the first of its kind, offering an in-depth look into the continent’s rich visual communication heritage.

Jackson Polys

A multi-disciplinary artist deeply engaged in Indigenous artistic discourse, Jackson Polys is a member of Tlingit territory, living and working between Alaska and New York. His practice interrogates Indigenous agency, cultural sovereignty, and the tensions between tradition and contemporary art. Holding an MFA from Columbia University, Polys has exhibited at institutions such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, Anchorage Museum, and Sundance Film Festival. He is a principal contributor to the collaborative artistic entity New Red Order (NRO) and a key advocate for Indigenous representation in contemporary design.

Ramon Tejada

A DominicanYork designer and educator, Ramon Tejada is at the forefront of decolonial design practices. As an Associate Professor at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), his approach—termed “puncturing”—focuses on collaboration, inclusion, and the expansion of design histories to incorporate marginalized voices. Tejada’s work bridges design, storytelling, and activism, making a profound impact on both academia and professional practice. He is a 2024 Vilcek Prize in Design recipient, recognizing his contributions to expanding the discipline’s boundaries.

Kelly Walters

As the founder of Bright Polka Dot, an interdisciplinary design studio, Kelly Walters explores the intersection of Black visual culture and systems of representation. Her curatorial and written work investigates race, identity, and the historical impact of design on communities of color. Walters has organized exhibitions such as Kindred and Remix: Activating the Archive, and her scholarship includes Black, Brown + Latinx Design Educators and The Black Experience in Design. She is currently an Associate Professor and Director of BFA Communication Design at Parsons School of Design.

About the Moderators

Brian Johnson

A designer, curator, and advocate for Indigenous representation in design, Brian Johnson is a partner at Polymode, where he leads projects that amplify marginalized voices. A member of the Monacan Indian Nation, Johnson is the author of Posters That Sing: Indigenous / Native American Printed and Designed Works, an exhibition set to open at Poster House Museum in 2026. He is a 2023-24 Emily Hall Tremaine Journalism Fellow for Curators, focusing on Indigenous graphic design narratives. His writing for Hyperallergic includes Designing a History of Indigenous Graphic Artists and Can We Find Our Way to Indigenous Joy?

Silas Munro

An internationally recognized designer, educator, and researcher, Silas Munro is the founder of Polymode, a studio engaged in socially conscious design. His curatorial work includes Strikethrough: Typographic Messages of Protest at Letterform Archive. As an academic, Munro has been instrumental in creating Black Design in America: African Americans and the African Diaspora in Graphic Design, a pioneering course on Black design history. His solo exhibition How Can the Grid Deal with a Messy World? is currently on view at The University of Hartford’s Joseloff Gallery.