Artistic practices are more than engaging ways to work on futures. They work as connectors: between people, between experience and knowledge, between issues, between past, present and future
33 out of the 54 projects surveyed by WTFutures engaged their young participants in some form of artistic practice, whether it resulted in theater plays (Générations F, Théâtre des Negotiations), murals of frescoes (A Fearless Mural for the COP27, Kijiji Cha Amani), displays from a “Museum of the Future” (of its Mexican version Museo del Futuro), crafted artefacts (Feeling Futures Through the Stuff We Wear, Puerto Rico 2054), or fictional stories told in writing and drawing (Butterfly 2050), as radio shows (Future Is Now, Climate Future in Brussels 2030) or on video (Pedagogías del Mañana)…
A Fearless Mural for COP 27 – Photo credit Fearless Foundation
Creative Media used in WTFutures’ projects | ||
|---|---|---|
Text narratives | Video | Dye |
Poetry | Photography | Textile scraps |
Oral storytelling, proverbs | Drawing, painting | Game, videogame |
Podcast/radio | Signage, banners | Social media content |
Theater | Sculpture | |
Music, songs | Design | |
Why are artistic practices so present?
We will refrain from overinterpreting the very significant presence of art in WTFutures’ corpus, since it is in part a reflection of how we searched and selected the projects. However, a few common messages emerge from the projects.
A first set of messages let us understand what art is not about in these projects:
- It is not about artists residencies or exposing young participants to the work of professional artists. Art features in the projects as a collective practice undertaken by the young participants, often (but not always) with the help of artists whose role is to help the participants push their imagination further.
- Rather than a way of illustrating predetermined visions of the future, art supports collective exploration and sense-making, helping images of the future emerge, but also challenging them.
- Rather than providing certainties and clear-cut messages, art provides openings, a diversity of possible directions, and food for further discussions.
Artistic practices have proved to be particularly engaging for young participants. They are fun. There is an inherent excitement in creating something, and pride in sharing it with others. They are a powerful way of learning, but they are also, to use a quote from Aniela Fidler Wieruszewska, “not school”. They provide a way of expressing one’s emotions without needing to put words on them. They can put young participants on a more equal footing with adults…
Message Towards the Region
The Art-Futures loop
However, the fact that two fifths of WTFutures’ projects do not use art also tells us that there are other ways to engage young participants. We therefore need to observe the projects in a closer and more nuanced way in order to better understand the role that artistic practices play in them.
Attention to the content: artistic explorations and renderings of alternative futures, their sharing with various publics, and their use in various forms of political deliberation. | Connecting issues beyond their traditional silos, by weaving them into common future “narratives”. Exploring alternative futures: using the freedom afforded by art to dare imagine truly different, even weird, futures. (Générations F, Climate Futures in Brussels) Producing powerful representations of futures towards various publics, including (but not limited to) policymakers. (Message Towards the Region, Our Future Pledge) Catalyzing conversations (Museum of the Not‑Yet‑Possible) Self-reflecting (as individuals and groups) on artistic production, for example in order to discuss what is probable, desirable, etc. (Future Is Now, Imagining the Future for Tranformations) Questioning dominant narratives of the future, past, and present. (Centre for Reworlding) Becoming conscious of the diversity of visions of the future and accepting it… |
Attention to the experience: first-person visions of the future, calling upon the senses, acknowledging emotions, and connecting to one’s attachments, culture, history, etc. | Experiencing life in a world marked by climate change. (Citadins, Citadines 2050, Climate Futures in Mali) Making sense of one’s experiences, connecting personal experience into common stories. (A Fearless Mural for COP27) Projecting oneself personally into alternative futures. (La Crise dont vous êtes le héros) Fun, excitement, engagement, pride… |
Attention to the practice and learning: art as a means of becoming capable and/or enhancing one’s capability of imagining and discussing alternative futures. | Making futuring practices more welcoming and less daunting, learning them in action and in conjunction with creative practices. (Future Is Now, Feeling Futures through the Stuff We Wear) Putting young and old participants on an equal footing. (Youth Climate Lab) Exploring alternatives to traditional processes of deliberation, policymaking, international negotiations, etc. (Théâtre des Négociations) |
In summary, art works as a connector: between people, between experience and knowledge, between issues (and, in education, disciplines), between past, present and future, and also between generations.
Générations F
Taking art seriously: a few conditions
Art can be demanding in its own way. Children, teenagers and young adults can produce amazing, challenging and fecund works of art if they are put in the right situation and helped. Listening to the projects, we identified a small number of conditions for artistic practices to express their full potential:
- Give them time: time is always a significant constraint when working with young people, both because of their attention span, and because so much of their time is determined by others. However, creation takes time. If you need to make choices, cut down on the time for “serious” work rather than that of creation. There are enough places where young people are asked to be serious.
- Do not overload participants with content. Again, creation offers an alternative way towards learning than what class usually provides. You want to maximize this difference. Also, and this is also true of adults, the more content you dump on participants, the less they will be able to imagine alternatives.
- Be demanding on the form and open on the content. If you are working with artists, ask them to help the youngsters produce great works of art. Great form will produce better and more original content, whereas the reverse is generally not true. The pride of having created something worth sharing with a public is a powerful motivator.
- Avoid stifling creativity by remarking on the feasibility or realism of the young participants’ images of the future. Let the young participants reflect together on what they created in their own way.
Anticipate how the creation will be shared. First, this is generally when the project really ends and the promise to participants is fulfilled. Second, this is when the images of the future produced by the young participants meet other audiences and can therefore begin to produce an impact at a different scale.
Video by Natali Mallo