Becoming designer/researcher/teacher: Working towards decolonization of/through design in South African higher education

Abstract

This article provides a new materialist perspective on design education within the context of decolonization in a South African higher education institution. It reflects on a specific case of design/research/teaching that transpired within the context of the Visual Communication Design curriculum at Stellenbosch University. A post-qualitative approach was followed; i.e. the researcher actively worked at resisting pre-conceived hierarchies and differences not just in thinking about the research, but also in its doing. The research demonstrated that decolonization requires relentless processes of collaborative resistance and that active commitment to new materialist praxis can positively contribute to individuals becoming more attuned to recognizing moments of transformation within their situated present. It was found that integrating creative play with representational media such as text and layout design within the research process facilitated this. The more transformative moments became visible and felt, the more ‘real’ decolonization seemed to become.