The University of Brighton Design Archives are delighted to welcome Dr Livia Rezende, UNSW Art & Design, Sydney, Australia, and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Brighton Design Archives and Centre for Design History. Livia will be presenting her research on:
The Discipline of Design in Cold War Brazil: Professionalization, Modernization and Authoritarianism (1947-1985)
Dr Livia Rezende, UNSW Art & Design, Sydney, Australia, and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Brighton Design Archives and the Centre for Design History
30th October, Community Lab 121, Mithras House, 12 noon-1pm
During the Cold War, Latin America witnessed a boom in design practice while becoming the focus of geopolitical tensions between the United Stated and the Soviet Union, resulting in several US-backed ‘anti-communist’ military coups and the installation of authoritarian regimes across the continent. In Brazil, as a military dictatorship ruled the country (1964-1985) and implemented several conservative modernization projects that widened social inequality, the practice of design was consolidated as an academic discipline and organized profession. In this seminar, Dr. Livia Rezende (UoB Visiting Research Fellow) will discuss her ongoing book project, the first to analyse, from a transnational history perspective, the institutionalisation and professionalisation of design and the rise of authoritarianism as associated events underpinned by Cold War politics. She will present the proposed book structure, discuss partial results from her extended research in international archives, and welcome feedback and suggestions from the audience.
Livia Rezende holds a PhD from the Victoria & Albert Museum/Royal College of Art History of Design Programme and is a Senior Lecturer at UNSW Art & Design, Sydney, Australia. Her current research examines the formation of transnational networks that led to the consolidation of design practice in Brazil during the Cold War and the conservative modernization initiated by the military dictatorship. Her previous projects investigated the participation of Brazil in International Exhibitions (1862-1922), and the representation of indigenous peoples on consumer good labels in 19th-century Brazil. Her work has appeared in publications such as Design & Displacement (Routledge, 2023), Building-Object (2022), Schools of Departure (Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, 2022), and in several academic journals. She serves as a Book Editor for Manchester University Press and is an Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Design History.
What is IOTA II?
IOTA II – IOTA stands for Image, Object, Text, Analysis, and was the title of a seminar series established by dear former colleagues Louise Purbrick and Jill Seddon. IOTA II aims to resurrect the inclusive nature of the original IOTA, bringing together students, colleagues and all interested parties from beyond the university to consider the visual and material world from a wide range of perspectives. It is a space for work-in-progress to be shared and nurtured, and for our research to be celebrated.
Image credit: ‘“GK 0406”, the ethanol-powered car in the world, designed in Brazil.’ Source: O Desempenho Da Secretaria de Tecnologia Industrial, Período 1974/1978. Ministério da Indústria e Comércio, Brasília, Jan 1979, p34.
