Fillip

Means of Production: Indigenous Patterns, Forms, and Letters with Kathleen and Christopher Sleboda
January 27th, 2024

11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Emily Carr University of Art + Design
Room C3215
520 E 1st Ave
Vancouver, BC

Register here

Join Fillip and design educators Christopher and Kathleen Sleboda (nłeʔképmx) of Draw Down Books on Saturday, January 27, in the COMD Studio, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, for a day-long typography workshop presented in collaboration with the Jake Kerr Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Christopher and Kathleen Sleboda will guide participants through a hands-on program intended to deepen understanding of the profound connection between language, culture, and design, with a particular focus on the nuances and cultural specificity of Indigenous patterns from Native North American communities. The workshop will encourage individuals to consider the stories and symbolism behind each stroke and curve, and explore the intricate relationship between cultural heritage and the visual language of typography.

Entrance is free but space is limited, and registration is required. All are welcome; priority registration will be provided for Indigenous participants.

This workshop will take place over six hours, with a lunch break midway. Refreshments and a light vegetarian lunch will be provided with registration. Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop computer. Please contact us with venue accessibility inquires and we will make every effort to accommodate specific needs.

About the Presenters

Christopher Sleboda and Kathleen Sleboda currently split their time between Boston and Connecticut. Together, the pair have run Draw Down Books, publishing and curating printed matter, since 2012. They also create illustrations (as Gluekit), design for clients in the arts and cultural heritage fields, and teach at Boston University and the Rhode Island School of Design.

Christopher was previously Director of Graphic Design at the Yale University Art Gallery where he worked closely with graphic design students in the Yale MFA program. In 2022, he launched Multiple Formats, a yearly symposium and book fair focused on artist books, graphic design, and pedagogy.

Kathleen, an enrolled member of the Coldwater Band of Merritt, BC (nłeʔkepmx), worked as an archivist at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale. For the past fifteen years she has designed books and printed materials for cultural institutions while lecturing and writing about graphic design, independent publishing, Indigenous knowledge systems, and the preservation of cultural heritage.

Both Christopher Sleboda and Kathleen Sleboda have been active in the artist book space for over a decade, organizing and curating fairs (the Otis MFA GD Fair, Odds and Ends at the Yale University Art Gallery, and Multiple Formats at Boston University) and participating in over fifty book fairs around the world.