Lens of Impact - Exploring the Cross-cultural Spaces of Art and Design Discourse is a discursive format aiming at bringing together differently situated perspectives to foster a platform for exploring, discussing and informing about the different lenses through which design practices are perceived and performed within the contexts of Switzerland and the United States. Organized jointly by the School of Art and Design History and Theory (ADHT) of Parsons School of Design at The New School and Swissnex, this regular event connects two distinguished speakers who share their viewpoints and explore the translation between them. Following these dialogues, an open Q&A session invites both Parsons' students and the broader Swissnex audience to join the cross-cultural exchange. Facilitating translation between Switzerland and the US, the series delves into the local political, social, and cultural landscapes that shape design practices and academic discourse. Embracing topics such as queering design, migrating design, and the more-than-human approach to design, Lens of Impact endeavors to provoke thought, inspire innovation, and foster understanding. After a successful first three editions in 2024, the series will now return in 2025.
The first iteration of the 2025 Lens of Impact series, Tailoring Freedom, brings together Dr. Jonathan Michael Square, Assistant Professor of Black Visual Culture at Parsons School of Design, and Sasha Huber, a Swiss-Haitian visual artist-researcher based in Helsinki. This event explores the intersections of self-fashioning, visual culture, and historical accountability.
For over a decade, Sasha Huber has engaged in reparative artistic interventions, notably through her involvement in Demounting Louis Agassiz, a campaign initiated in 2007 by Swiss historian and activist Hans Fässler, which critically reassesses the Swiss-born scientist’s legacy, including his role in promoting ‘scientific’ racism.
Dr. Jonathan Square's work focuses on fashion and visual culture of the African Diaspora, notably also the history of enslavement through a fashion lens. He recently curated the exhibition Revolisyon Toupatou at the New School, which shines a light on the role of fashion and textile arts in narrating Haitian history and identity.
Together, Square and Huber will discuss the mutual Haitian connections in their work, reflecting on how historical narratives are woven into identity and artistic expression. Their exchange will illuminate the ways in which art and research can challenge dominant histories and offer new perspectives on the enduring legacies of colonialism, resistance and accountability.
Presented by the School of Art & Design History & Theory at Parsons School of Design and Swissnex.
Sasha Huber (b. 1975) is a Helsinki-based internationally recognized visual artist-researcher of Swiss-Haitian heritage. Huber's work is concerned with the politics of memory, care and belonging in relation to colonial residues left in the environment. Connecting history and the present, she uses and responds to archival material within a layered creative practice that encompasses
performance-based reparative interventions, video, photography, and collaborations. Huber also usurps the staple gun, aware of its symbolic significance as a weapon, while offering the potential to renegotiate unequal power dynamics and the possibility of repair, symbolically stitching colonial wounds together.
She holds an MA in visual culture from Aalto University in Helsinki and is presently undertaking a practice-based PhD in artistic research at the Zurich University of the Arts.
Huber also works in a creative partnership with visual artist Petri Saarikko. From 2021–24 her work
has been touring under the title “You Name It” which was circulated by The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto.
Dr. Jonathan Michael Square is the Assistant Professor of Black Visual Culture at Parsons School of Design. He earned a PhD from New York University, an M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin, and a B.A. from Cornell University. Previously, he taught in the Committee on Degree in History and Literature at Harvard University and was a fellow in the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Most recently, he curated the exhibition Past Is Present: Black Artists Respond to the Complicated Histories of Slavery at the Herron School of Art and Design, which closed in January 2023.
He is currently preparing for his upcoming show titled Afric-American Picture Gallery at the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library. A proponent of the use of social media as a form of radical pedagogy, Dr. Square also leads the digital humanities project Fashioning the Self in Slavery and Freedom.
Committed to amplifying diverse voices, The New School offers more than a thousand public programs and events each year, providing fresh perspectives and unique learning opportunities. These lectures, exhibitions, concerts, and performances feature prominent and emerging artists, activists, and thought leaders. Be sure to visit our Events Calendar to see the full roster.
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