Resilients

maja — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:44:14 +0000

Resilients are people of all ages preparing for uncertain futures, by experimenting with resilient forms living & working as a form of artistic practice. The Resilients project collects, creates, shares & supports these emergent practices, while grounding them in historic cultural roots.

Resilients’ core activities are five case studies, public experiments with materials, media & technologies in the context of endangered crafts, urban gardening, sustainable forestry, contemporary pilgrimage & future preparedness. A programme of residencies, apprenticeships, workshops, gatherings and publications will allow a wide involvement of practitioners and enthusiasts across Europe and beyond.

Resilients' Philosophy

For humans to thrive in uncertain, turbulent times, resilience is an essential tactic. We can never be certain about the kind of cultures that could materialise in the future, but we can speculate about how could they look. The Resilients project experiments with possible futures by applying whole systems thinking to the integration of cultural traditions with emerging arts, sciences, design & technology. Through unexpected alliances between these fields, speculation becomes rooted in the real world. For a resilient culture to arise, a stable support infrastructure is required – open systems, cultural laboratories & knowledge pools. Resilients are committed to building this infrastructure, through a pilot project leading towards the formation of a Guild of Resilients.

A resilient system is both fexible & robust. It is continuously engaged in the delicate balancing act of growing & evolving, adapting to change & discarding unsustainable elements. Change is a never-ending process, growing less predictable as our habitats, societies, economic & technological systems increase complexity & become more interdependent. To respond to unpredictability, we can look at improving human ability to face & embrace change, whether perceived as positive, negative or neutral (e.g. birth of a child, environmental crisis, or moving house). By integrating different approaches to developing resilience, we can strengthen the 'immune system' of a culture as a whole.

In progress: http://lib.fo.am/resilients

Project partners: FoAM (BE), Central Saint Martins’ Textile Futures (UK), nadine (BE), Performing Pictures (SE), Projekt Atol (SI) and Time’s Up (AT).

With the support of the Culture Programme (2007 - 2013) of the European Union and the Flemish Authorities.

FoAM - urban gardening

Resilients