“Narratives of a Near Future”

For its 10th anniversary, HEAD – Genève is hosting the international conference “Narratives of a Near Future,”  which addresses the challenges that the next generation will have to meet by crossing, in an innovative way, viewpoints of artists, designers and scholars. Conceived as a real forum, “Narratives of a Near Future”  features talks, screenings, performances and exhibition spaces in the new campus buildings. How do artists, designers and scholars see the future? Arguing for a transdisciplinary approach, the programme of “Narratives of a Near Future” revolves around four central themes.  

Rewind Forward examines our relationship with the past, the present and the future from a methodological and ontological point of view. Inhabit the Anthropocene explores the current and future relations between human beings and their environment, the challenges posed by the preservation of natural resources, migratory movements and changes in technology. Decoding/Recoding focuses on the future changes in the economy, knowledge and forms of both intelligence and control related to the widespread digitization. Collective Super Egos tackles body issues: its hybridisations with technologies, its representations and its more and more fluid identities.   

Conferences in English and in French with simultaneous translations into French or English.  

December 14, 9am—1pm: Rewind Forward 
Mathieu Lehanneur, designer, France
Mark Wigley, architect, author, professor and dean emeritus at Columbia GSAPP, New Zealand/US 
Marguerite Humeau, artist, researcher, France/UK 
Liam Young, architect, filmmaker, Australia/UK 
Aliocha Imhoff, Kantuta Quirós, artists, researchers, curators, founders Le peuple qui manque, France 
Mathieu Triclot, philosopher, lecturer at Université de technologie de Belfort-Montbéliard, France 

December 14, 2–7pm: Inhabit the Anthropocene 
Baptiste Morizot, philosopher, lecturer in Philosophy at the Université d’Aix-Marseille, France 
Marie Velardi, artist, researcher, Switzerland 
Oliver Ressler, artist, filmmaker, Austria 
Metahaven, designers collective, Netherlands 
Jussi Parikka, writer, media theorist, professor in technological culture & aesthetics at Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton, UK/Finland
Vanessa Lorenzo, designer — Spain/Switzerland
Kodwo Eshun, artist, theorist, lecturer in Aural and Visual Culture at Goldsmith, UK 
J.G. Biberkopf, artist, Lithuania/Netherlands 
 
December 15, 9am—1pm: Decoding/Recoding 
Kevin Slavin, chief science and technology officer The Shed, US 
Cécile B. Evans, artist, researcher, UK 
Dan Hill, designer, urbanist, UK 
Korakrit Arunanondchai, artist, filmmaker, Thailand/US 
Yves Citton, writer, literature professor Université de Grenoble, France 
Lauren Huret, artist, Switzerland 
Michael Hansmeyer, architect, Switzerland/Germany
Jan Vorisek, artist, Switzerland 

December 15, 2–7pm: Collective Super Egos 
Aimee Mullins, actress, athlete, model, US 
Olaf Blanke, founding director Center for Neuroprosthetics, Bertarelli Foundation Chair in Cognitive Neuroprosthetics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology EPFL, Switzerland 
Ying Gao, fashion designer, professor, Canada 
Thomas Thwaites, designer, researcher Rhode Island School of Design, UK/US 
Joanna Berzowska, associate professor, Design and Computation Art research director, XS Labs Concordia University, Canada
Arne Hendriks, artist, researcher, Netherlands 

December 14–15: Artistic propositions 
Korakrit Arunanondchai, Aliocha Imhoff & Kantuta Quirós (Le peuple qui manque), Ying Gao, Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, Michael Hansmeyer, Lauren Huret, Vanessa Lorenzo, Oliver Ressler, Luc Schuiten, The Anthropocene Atlas of Geneva (TAAG), Julien Baiamonte, Mathieu Cherubini, Laura Couto Rosado, Chloé Delarue, Camille Dumond, Mathis Gasser, Lisa Hartje-Moura, Charles Heller, Emilie Joly, Malak Mekhbout, Raphaëlle Muller, Benoît Renaudin 

Online booking  here  

1 day CHF 100 regular / CHF 30 reduced* 
2 days CHF 150 regular / CHF 50 reduced*  
Lunch included  
*student, unemployed, senior