In an age overwhelmed by innovation, disruption, and constant change, how do we feel our way through “the new”?

What if the hunger for novelty (so often linked to colonialism, extraction, and spectacle) could be reimagined?

Join us for Design & Sensing The New, an exploratory picnic that engages the senses, the intellect, and the collective imagination. Through curated, multi-sensory experiences and intimate group conversations, we’ll interrogate what “the new” really means and what it should mean for design, ethics, and each of us as curious humans.

Expect an evening of:

• Tactile provocations and sensory cues to awaken new perspectives
• Critical conversation about design, desire, and decolonial futures
• Playful exploration in small, facilitated groups
• A picnic experience that brings people together over food, ideas, and shared intention

The colonial obsession with experiencing the new is well-documented and evidenced by the collections of curiosities (artefacts, plants, etc.) found in the global North. Desire for the new fuelled the growth of consumer culture and has been central to the exploitation of people, animals, and the planet.

Design has been part of the fetishism of the new and designers have often been required to be explorers of the world, travelling over space and time attune to new aesthetics and emerging trends. In the current context however, the newness of emerging technologies, the geopolitical climate and environmental collapse can be overwhelming.

Can we think about the desire for the new outside its colonial history?

What place is there for design in the new context we find ourselves in?

And in fact is anything new at all?

This is  an invitation to gather, reflect, and imagine otherwise; with your hands, your senses, and your community.

Come curious. Leave changed.

Picnic concept creator and facilitator - Dr Sarah Elsie Baker

Sarah Elsie Baker is an Associate Professor and the Head of Research at Media Design School in Auckland. Sarah’s research is focused on design and social justice, and she has expertise in UX including participatory and multi-sensory methods. Sarah’s book ‘Designing Gender: A Feminist Toolkit’ was released in NZ in March 2024.

To buy your ticket please visit
https://designassembly.org.nz/calendar/spring-conversations-tamaki-makaurau-2025/

Ticket Prices:

Members: $20 (+GST and BF) with discount code
Non-Members: $45  (+GST and BF)

Dietary requirements will be catered for.