Register here!

Cabinet of Futures (CoF), brought to you by the Austrian art and culture group Time’s Up, offers, in addition to the main exhibition, three blocks of events to train your practical utopian capabilities. Each block will engage with a different theme. The three thematic blocks, consisting of three different formats per block, enable participants to think out loud about possible futures, engage with, imagine and discuss them in order to allow a better today.

These events allow those who attend all formats a variety of immersions in speculative foresight experiences, those only attending one format a unique self-contained experience.

Each event allows participants to develop their capacity for anticipation of practical utopias, by which we mean plausible and preferable possible futures. The events are based upon and encourage a playful approach to imagining practical utopias, they are easy to attend and reinforce an open appreciation of multiple future possibilities.

Quality of Life // Small is Beautiful

Before the world becomes merely a plaything for the 1%, how do we create systems that bring a quality of life to us all, for the betterment of us all, as a whole?

For Aristotle, the Economy is the science of the household, how to have a better life.

Life as a mixture of what we do, how and where we do it, not as Homo economicus, rather as Homo reciprocans, a species that lives and thrives by relating.

Ernst Schumacher talked about three purposes of human work: to produce necessary and useful goods and services; to enable us to use and perfect our gifts and skills; and to serve and collaborate with other people, so as to liberate ourselves from our inborn egocentricity. Not as a trade of our time for stuff.

In this block we will investigate how we might develop aspects of society in which general quality of life is enhanced at a human scale and we regard one another as valuable individuals.

Practical Utopia from Afar

9. Nov 2018, 6PM

Studio Solipsis / 73 Triq il- Kbira Rabat

This is a simple presentation, an evening event for a general but interested public. Presenters will be experts invited from within the local community.

 A Practical Utopian Moment

10. Nov 2018, 2-5PM

St Joseph the Worker Parish Centre, 2nd floor, 71 Bwieraq Street Birkirkara

Join us for an introduction to futuring techniques for experiential futures, exploring Time’s Up’s experiences and feel welcome to be guided through some engaging processes allowing all participants to think out loud about possible futures a society in which quality of life matters more than quantities of stuff.

An Afternoon Spent in a Practical Utopian State of Mind

11. Nov 2018 10AM-5PM

St Joseph the Worker Parish Centre, 2nd floor, 71 Bwieraq Street Birikrkara

Be engaged in developing more in-depth alternative future scenarios in correlation with possible futures of a reflexive, reflective society. Be guided through a process of developing artefacts for experiential futures, to turn imaginations into practical utopias.

To apply for the workshops, click on the following link. Minimum age for participation: 16. All blocks are independent of each other – one may attend one, two or all, however this is not a requirement as no continuity is needed. Applications close on the 8th of November 2018, noon OR when spots have been filled. All events are free of charge.