It is happening.
Week 2 for my placement with the festival “Present Futures”… A few words about the festival: “Present Futures” is a festival that will take place –digitally- on 5th, 6th and 7th of February 2021 (save the date!). It will actually be the 4th time of the festival, curated by the choreographer Colette Sadler. This year’s themes include post-humanism, bodily representation and speculative futures, as it is stated in the festival’s website.
In week 1 I had the chance to meet with the lovely Kat, one of the producers of the festival and we talked about the assemblage of the festival, the confirmed (but also the TBC) artists and the various ways I could get involved with the festival. I had the chance to tell her what my interests are and frankly there are more ways to get involved with a festival than I anticipated. I could create a blog, interview the artists, get involved in the technical aspect of it or even talk with the producers and have an insight of what their work is all about. Kat is very kind and helpful and I really enjoyed our “e-meeting”.
Now, in week 2 I received the list of the artists participating in the festival (shhhh it’s still a secret!), so as to have a closer look of their work and all I will say is that each and every one of them is uniquely creative. I did pick one or two that resonated with me a bit more than the others though and i will definitely keep them in mind for a future involvement.
My concern at this point is how I am going to take advantage of this opportunity of “Present Futures” in order to pursue themes and interests of mine. How does materiality or graphic design meet post-humanism? It is a question I am interested to explore and come up with a creative response.
Feel free to comment below with any bibliography or any responses on that question.
Thanks for posting Raf. I am so glad to hear that you had a good first meeting with Kat and that you are seeing ways of engaging with the festival. The last question you post about how graphic design meets posthumanism through the festival makes me think of the suggestion of a zine for the festival or a way of trying to explore other creative outputs for this. What do you feel like your role will be in the festival? Or roles? It seems as though you are going to have more than just an observational role so it would be good to hear how these develop in coming the new year. I wonder what relationships you will have with the artists too and how this might be a good opportunity to network and share practice. I look forward to hearing more about how this develops in the lead up to the festival.