Futurological Congress
November 29–30, 2024
With Adnan Hadzi, Athina Maria, Ethel Baranoa Pohl, Giulia Bini, Ingo Niermann, Ishita Chakraborty, Johannes M. Hedinger, Julieta Aranda, Lucia Pietroiusti, Mareike Dittmer, Martina Huber, Maya Minder, Mónica Bello, Nikita Dhawan, Radical Care Initiative, Ren Britton, Taskforce 2123, Uriel Orlow
2016–2030 (we expect difficulties)
Since we gathered in Warsaw in 2016 to launch the 9th Futurological Congress, the world has spiraled through a set of nervous patterns that back then we called a state of panic, and which we expected to pass. But instead of passing, this state appears to have settled in. So again, we feel the need to respond to the widespread uncertainty about what the future holds in the current times of contradiction; when we are facing both ecological crises mage, and a widespread war, which is the biggest producer of ecological collapse there is.
Thinking about the future is embedded in our nature—it is a by-product of being aware of our own mortality. But when we look towards the future at this particular point in the narrative of our planet, we are facing the consequences of centering ourselves as the administrators and beneficiaries of everything on earth, as if we, humans, were the only planetary actors that matter, and as if everything else around us were only resources, to be deployed and exhausted in the name of Human History.
It is at this juncture that the options that we currently have in stock to think about the future become insufficient. So this operation—the Futurological Congress– wants to start a different dialogue, to elaborate on the possibility of many futures instead of the single narrative of possible catastrophe that is on offer at the moment.
Imaginative work is a site of agency. The Futurological Congress proposes a set of processes and entanglements for thinking about futures. It is itinerant, always situated and always nomadic, it responds to specific situations in relation to a wider context and in communal presence, where we want to make our minds and bodies work together: to examine the particular present that we are gathered into, and hold site specific conversations where we speculate, and propose narratives and models that can lead to workable and liveable collective projects. It is an invitation to imagine a multiplicity of futures that are interwoven, animal, polysemic, astronomical, indigenous, aquatic, post-planetary. And it is an invitation to try and fail at imagining the futures that we are not meant to imagine, yet!
Recording of the whole conference
Please register here to get the recording of the Futurological Congress for both days.
Please register here for in person attendance Day 1:
3:30–9pm
Introduction to the Futurological Congress: Julieta Aranda, Mareike Dittmer, Martina Huber & Jacqueline Uhlmann
“Who’s going to clean up after the revolution?”: Ethel Baraona Pohl
Coalition Bouquet Workshop: Ren Loren Britton
Communities of Care: Athina Maria & Adnan Hadzi
Beyond Time: Decolonizing History for a Future of Care: Nikita Dhawan
How Do We Want to Live Together?: Youth Group Taskforce 2123
Reimagining Care through Art + Science: Mónica Bello, Giulia Bini
Please register here for in person attendance Day 2:
Opening remarks: Julieta Aranda, Mareike Dittmer, Martina Huber & Jacqueline Uhlmann
The Monadic Age: Ingo Niermann
All that remains of the changing seasons: Lucia Pietroiusti
Radical Care Initiative: Elena Sorokina
Caring for Ghosts, Learning from Plants: Uriel Orlow
What if?: Letter to the Future & Johannes M. Hedinger,
‘Voices from the global south’: Ishita Chakraburty
Slippery Grounds: Maya Minder
Many futures are yet to come, and all the adventures are still there.
Our due respect goes to Stanislaw Lem for his clear-sighted speculations about what he called ‘ariadnology’ (the theory of search engines) and ‘phantomatics’ (virtual reality), not to mention his predictions about singularity, bionics, artificial intelligence and nanotechnology.
The Futurological Congress is chaired by Julieta Aranda and Mareike Dittmer.
The Zurich Chapter is organized by Julieta Aranda, Mareike Dittmer and Martina Huber.
This chapter was seeded and tended to under the support and care of our partners: Pro Helvetia / Löwenbräukunst / Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst / Kunsthalle Zürich / WE ARE AIA I Awareness in ArtWe Are AIA / Kanton Zürich Fachstelle Kultur / Max Kohler Stiftung / Living Museum Zürich
Childcare
For the children of participants at the Futurological Congress, the art educator Alexandra Eichenauer will prepare an artistic education program for children aged five to ten. The main language will be German, though Alexandra Eichenauer also understands English and French. Participation is free of charge and is made possible thanks to the support of the Migros Museum: Saturday 14:30 - 21:00, Registration is required. Location: LOI BISTRO, Löwenbräukunst, Limmatstr. 270, 8005 Zürich,
Accessibility and registration
Individual needs will be assessed upon registration to accommodate each participant. A quiet room is available. The Löwenbräukunst center is barrier-free (entrance Limmatstrasse 268, 8005 Zurich by elevator). The main entrance is located at Limmatstrasse 270, 8005 Zurich. We will provide Sign Language please do register until November 17, 2024
Visual impairment: We will provide assistance at Löwenbräu Tram, please do register until November 17, 2024. If you have any additional questions, please contact Jasmin Gottstein under the following email address: welcome@weareaia.art.
Caring space
There is a quiet room available for all participants to use during the entire time of the congress. The Caring Space is located at the ground floor level, within the Migros Museum, Limmatstrasse 270, 8005 Zurich. The space offers a relaxed ambiance and you can leave any time.
