Symposium: The Devil’s Milk

A Critical Reflection on Rubber

On Thursday 27 November, Droog will host a symposium on rubber, initiated by conceptual material designer Shahar Livne. The project, titled The Devil’s Milk, takes its name from the book by Australian historian John Tully, which traces the complex and often brutal social history of rubber in a global context.

Rubber is a material most of us encounter daily, flexible, functional, and largely invisible. It may be natural, sourced from trees in Asia, South America, and Africa, or synthetic, derived from petrochemicals. In both cases, it carries a long and entangled history of extractivism, colonial industry, technological development, and cultural symbolism.

With The Devil’s Milk, Livne continues this narrative through the lens of critical and discursive design . Her research spans ethnography, botanical history, industrial material flows, and the tension between the human body and plant systems. The project explores the different dimensions of rubber,  from its ecological impact to its economic structures, from its industrial legacies to its spiritual and cultural meanings.

The symposium brings together voices from across disciplines to engage with rubber as both a material and a metaphor. The evening will open with a keynote by Shahar Livne, presenting her latest design work. The program will include contributions from Kew Gardens, biologists, architects, and researchers, among others.

The full speaker lineup will be announced soon.

About Shahar Livne

Shahar Livne is an award-winning conceptual material designer who analyzes the ecological and political shifts of humans and nature. Her comprehensive approach delves into the historical contexts of specific materials used or abused by humans extends towards examining the entanglement of material cultures and geopolitics, and looks forward to the material’s futures in light of human consumption with a critical eye. Shahar Live has presented her work in Cooper Hewit  in New York, Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Design Museum in London, Guangdong Museum of Art in China, MAK in Vienna and Holon Desing Museum and others.

Program

Thursday, 27 November

Start: 17:00-19:00

Ba: 19:00-20:00

The Red Space @droog

Ticket including 1 drink €17,50