Miami Dade College’s Museum of Art and Design is once again presenting a series of public programming relevant to the area with “The Speculative Machine,” focusing on climate, gentrification and systematic corruption.
The series is designed to accompany the current exhibit called “SUPERFLEX: We Are All in The Same Boat.” The first discussion panel, Speculative Machine I: Tools for a Thawing World, takes place on Thursday, February 21 at 7 p.m. at the Freedom Tower, 600 Biscayne Boulevard.
Gean Moreno, Curator of Programs at ICA Miami, explained the significance of the discussion.
“What is interesting about the Speculative Machine program are the points at which speculation touches upon the concrete realities of the city,” said Moreno. “It’s time to think about Miami in complex ways that refuse both the business-as-usual logic of accumulation and luxury and apocalyptic paralysis in the face of coming destruction. Somewhere in between or above these unimaginative responses, we have to start figuring out new ways to live. We have to speculate on the futures that we want and on the ways in which we can make them materialize.”
Then on Thursday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. is Speculative Machine II: Specters of Climate, Community, and Corruption. This panel discussion explores how communities in Miami are affected by the interrelated issues of climate, gentrification, and corruption. It pays particular attention to trends within the cultural sector that either combat, or contribute to, the crisis, and it considers both the exposed and hidden manifestations of corruption upon the city’s urban landscape. Participants include George Yúdice (Professor of critical theory and cultural studies at the University of Miami, and Director of the Miami Observatory on Communication and Creative Industries), Timothy A. Barber (Executive Director of the Black Archives in Overtown, and former member of the City of Miami Historic and Environmental Preservation Board), and Mariana Boldu (Landscape Architect and Director of Resilience Design at Curtis + Rogers Design Studio, and Board Member of the City of Miami Sea Level Rise Committee).
Museum admission: $12 adults; $8 seniors and military; $5 students (13–17) and college students (with valid ID); free for MOAD members, MDC students, faculty, and staff, and children 12 and under. Regular Museum Hours: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday 1–6 p.m.; Thursday 1–8 p.m. Accessibility challenges, call 305-237-7710 for details. For updates and a full schedule of events, visit www.mdcmoad.org
