Talk Julia Watson

On Saturday, 19 October, DDW 2024 beacon Julia Watson will give a keynote lecture at the Van Abbemuseum. The lecture, titled Lo—TEK, revolves around Watson’s eponymous book, which focuses on the integration of Indigenous knowledge into contemporary design.

Lo—TEK: Infrastructures of an Ancestor Future

Indigenous knowledge systems are built on a deeply relational understanding of the world—an intricate web of interconnections where survival depends on cooperation, reciprocity, and respect for all living beings.

“While Western science often isolates knowledge into distinct categories, Indigenous communities have long known that everything is in conversation.”

This holistic perspective has led to the development of water-based technologies that are climate-resilient and adapt to their environments in ways that Western infrastructures struggle to emulate.

Julia Watson

Julia Watson is one of the new beacons of Dutch Design Week. Watson is an Australian born author, researcher, lecturer, and landscape designer based in New York City. Julia is an expert on traditional and indigenous technologies and focuses her work at the intersection of anthropology, ecology and innovation. Her eponymously named design consultancy foregrounds traditional knowledge, sustainability and nature-based innovation.

This event is sold out.