University of Gothenburg
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Maryam Fanni

Doctoral Student

The Design
Unit
Mail
maryam.fanni@gu.se
Visiting address
Kristinelundsgatan 6-8
41137 Göteborg
Postal address
Box 131
40530 Göteborg

About Maryam Fanni

I am a designer, educator and PhD student in Design at HDK-Valand. Prior to my current position I studied Graphic design at Konstfack and Rhode Island School of Design; Architecture at Royal Institute of Art; as well as a plethora of studies in language and humanistics at Stockholm University and University College of Södertörn and painting at preparatory art schools. In my artistic research practice I am interested in collective memory, public space, the politics of design, publishing strategies and archival interventions, with a particular interest in everyday life, the taken-for-granted and ephemeral.

I have been running my own design studio since 2011 focusing on printed matter and typography for international clientele in arts and culture, and have regularly contributed to the Swedish National Radio and other publications as an art and design critic and freelance writer. I was a co-editor of "Vi kommer totalt dominera – Om utomhusreklam som demokratifråga" (Stockholm: Dokument Press 2021) and "The Natural Enemies of Books: A Messy History of Women in Printing and Typography" (London: Occasional Papers 2020).

My research project "Reading the Signs – nostalgia as distinction-making narrative in Swedish post-war suburbs" investigates discursively constructed imaginaries of postwar suburb centers in Stockholm and how these are manifested in urban renewal projects. I seek to understand how design is operational by those in formal power in imagining public space, and how distinction and nostalgia create exclusion and inclusion. Furthermore, I explore how designerly archival interventions can challenge such discourses and practices, and propose other narratives. I am supervised by prof Erling Björgvinsson and prof Catharina Thörn.

I have more than a decades experience of teaching from a number of art and design schools in Sweden and abroad such as: Konstfack, Beckmans College of Design, Linnaeus University, Stockholm University of the Arts, Royal Institute of Art, Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo, Estonian Academy of Art and Design and more. My most recent teaching engagements at HDK-Valand has included teaching Design BA students in Design Studies and Literary composition BA students in Editorial practices, supervision of MA students in Design and discussant at MA degree presentations.

I am a member of the editorial team of the culture journal Fronesis, a board member of Stockholm's Typographical Association and vice chair of the Swedish Arts Grants Committee. In fall 2023 I am a visiting PhD researcher supervised by prof Libby Porter at Center for Urban Research at RMIT, Melbourne, Australia.

My works have been shown at the Museum of Swedish History, ArkDes, Konsthall C, Brno International Biennial of Graphic Design, Index Foundation, Grafikens hus c/o Royal Art Academy in Stockholm and Gallery Myymälä2. My writings have been published in Visual Communication, Futuress, AIGA Eye on Design, Parse Journal of Artistic Research and more.

Profile photo credit: Anna Drvnik