DDM Speakers: Protopia: Antidote to Futures Of Fear
Join us for this online talk with speculative designer and futurist Monika Bielskyte.
Sci-fi movies and popular media headlines often present an illusion of a "technologically predetermined" future. These narratives isolate science and technology from human context, exhibiting discriminatory bias and limiting our understanding of possibilities. Monika’s research explores alternatives to fear-based dystopian and exclusionary utopian futures, emphasizing the importance of informed hope in shaping our collective path forward amidst disinformation warfare and the increasing geopolitical destabilization. This keynote introduces the Protopia Futures framework, prioritizing leadership of the most impacted, a life-centric design approach and valuing disability & neurodivergence informed innovation.
Monika Bielskyte is a futurist, speculative designer, founder of @protopiafutures & partner at @africanlifecentricdesign. With expertise in information technologies and immersive media (generative AI, spatial computation, VR/XR, UI, UX), Monika examines both the promises and perils of innovation as the blurring boundaries between the digital and physical worlds become increasingly weaponized through strategies of hybrid warfare.
Her career in Hollywood includes futurist consultancy for Disney / Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Monika has done speaking and advisory work for BBC, DreamWorks, Google, Microsoft, MTN, Nike, Unesco, Universal, Warner Media, WEF, among others.