Opening Up Desirable Futures: The Importance of Imagination and More-Than-Humans — Francie

What surrounds us is not just a backdrop. More-than-humans (animals, plants, elements … ) must no longer be relegated to a so-called“natural“ place, because this perspective reduces our daily relationships to utilitarianism or protectionism. Beyond addressing the absurdities of destruction and pollution that drive climate disruption, every space we use or traverse can and must be recognized as always already inhabited, utilized, and integrated by other entities than ourselves. The social, political, and ecological urgencies of today compel us to recompose our collective imagination—both for humans and with more-than-humans. We will rely on each participants experiences, projections, and desires to move forward together on this path. We will pool our relationships with more-than-humans by exploring moments where they have participated in our lives, and delving into narratives that are about us but also feature them.

This training is envisioned as a Laboratory : a space where we explore our relationships with others and with more-than-humans—a place to move them, and perhaps transform them. To achieve this, we will use a variety of mediums, including writing, theatrical improvisation, meditation, and theoretical reflection. 

Storytelling is a way to bring awareness to the relationships we maintain, and when combined with imagination, it can help us understand what we desire and what we reject. Theatrical improvisation allows us to embody situations, experiment through physical experience, and reimagine the same scene by shifting perspectives. Finally, studying and discussing texts together (experience-based narratives, philosophical writings, etc.) helps broaden our vision and define our vantage points. With this invitation, we aim to collectively imagine new ways of doing, living, and thinking about what surrounds us.

This training is an attempt to reclaim our collective imagination and equip ourselves with tools to nourish and expand it toward new possibilities. It requires acknowledging the limits, prejudices, and power dynamics we all carry as legacies, but also realizing our ability to evolve, reshape, and direct them toward fresh inflections. We will share everyone’s projections, bring them together, and let them collide, respond to one another, and enrich each other through dedicated spaces of creation. Harnessing the power of imagination and our capacity to forge relationships with humans and non-humans alike, we aim to envision alternative futures—together. Rather than seeking definitive answers, we will collectively open a shared space for exploration. This is an Experimental Laboratory we propose through this unique initiative.
How can we reclaim our imaginations to create a more desirable future?
How can we work toward envisioning appealing futures that account for the more-than-
human?

The training will offer pathways and tools to shift our perspectives and behaviors, with the hope that these shifts become levers to inspire alternative ways of creating and acting in our daily lives. Each participant will be an active member of this original process.

OBJECTIVES:

• Experiment with new daily forms of living with the living.
• Consciously stimulate imagination.
• Acquire writing tools.
• Develop theatrical practices.
• Practice group discussion and exchange of perspectives.
• Initiate an exploration of theoretical and philosophical texts.

WHAT PARTICIPANTS SHOULD BRING:

• A blanket.
• Warm, comfortable slippers.
• Rain shoes and a raincoat.
• Warm clothing: sweaters, hats, scarves, gloves.
• A blank notebook for writing/drawing and pens / pencils
• One book in English (if available).
• Loose, comfortable clothing.
• A picture of a more-than-human