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Design in an Age of Uncertainty Reflects the Current State of the World
The Design History Society Conference, one of the world's leading gatherings of scholars and researchers in the field of design history and theory, will be held in Central Europe for the very first time, at the Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University in Brno. The conference will take place from 3 to 5 September 2026, and this year's theme is Design in an Age of Uncertainty.
The programme responds directly to the current state of the world, including armed conflicts, mass migration, and the climate crisis. According to conference convenor Marta Filipová, these developments significantly affect not only society as a whole but also design practice, education, and research. “The conference opens a discussion about the role design can play in a period of growing uncertainty and about the values that design should uphold,” Filipová explained. She added that the three-day event will be held at the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University, located at Arna Nováka 1 in Brno.
Among the keynote guests will be Slovak philosopher Lukáš Likavčan, Romani Design, the world's first Roma fashion and design studio, and Zeina Maasri, an award-winning scholar and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
The conference programme will focus on several key thematic areas: Visions of the Future and the Past, Digital Technologies: New Hope or New Risk?, Ecology and Responsibility, and The More-than-Human World and Interspecies Relations. According to Filipová, participants will discuss, among other topics, how design has influenced ecosystems throughout history and in the present day, as well as how it can contribute to more sustainable models of coexistence.
The conference is intended for academics, artists, and members of the public interested in the role of design in contemporary society and in possible approaches to this field of visual culture. The annual Design History Society conference is one of the leading international platforms for research in design history and theory. Each year, it brings together experts from a wide range of disciplines and encourages critical debate about the role of design in society. Previous editions have been held in cities such as New York, Oxford, Ankara, and Porto. In the organisation's fifty-year history, this will be the first time the conference is hosted in Central Europe. Conference tickets are already available for purchase.
