December 5, 6 pm
Under the name Untold Stories Ruben Pater creates visual narratives about geopolitical issues. Projects are initiated in which research is followed by visual ways of storytelling for a wide audience, creating new relations between journalism and design. His Drone Survival Guide (2013), received attention worldwide as an educational and activist tool against military drones. A research into disaster communication in times of climate change resulted in the First Dutch Flood Manual (2011), and Double Standards (2012) was an installation and publication about the role of global maritime trade in Somali piracy. His first book The Politics of Design (BIS Publishers, 2016) is global guide for designers towards a more responsible visual communication.
Ruben Pater: “Design is not some magic force that will solve the world’s problems, and assuming this is dangerous. However, designers can try to lessen the negative impact that design has on the world and turn it into something positive”.
During his talk at the Mayak school Ruben will speak about his past and ongoing project, his vision of design as profession and mission and his recently published book Politics of Design.
Ruben Pater started his career working for graphic design studios from
Admission is free of charge. The number of participants is limited. Please register in advance.
Organised by TOK as a part of the public program of the 4th season of Critical Mass
TOK is curatorial collective based in St Petersburg and founded by Anna Bitkina and Maria Veits in 2010 as a platform for conducting interdisciplinary projects in the fields of contemporary art and design and social sciences. TOK’s projects have a strong social component and deal with current issues that are widely discussed both in Russia and internationally such as migration, public space and citizens, development of education, deprivation of social resources, forming collective memory, use of natural resources, growing role of the media in the global society, changing political climate and many others. TOK curators have also always been largely interested in exploring the concept of public space in post-Soviet Russia and the former Soviet Union, as well as perception, understanding and mechanisms of use of public spaces and open areas by residents of post-Soviet cities. One of the current interests of TOK is reaction of the media to global sociopolitical processes.
