“Our task is to make trouble, to stir up potent response to devastating events, as well as to settle troubled waters and rebuild quiet places”
– Donna Haraway
Ground
Alterotopia evolves through creative encounters between practices, materials and places of change. It has emerged from one such encounter: between the artistic practice of Marijke de Pous and the activist academic practice of Flor Avelino. Apart from finding resonance in the content of each other’s work, we share a passion to gain insight from paradoxical thinking, to address the deeply rooted troubles and injustices of our time, combined with a celebratory appreciation of the joys and beauty of life.
Alterotopia is born out of an urgent and deep felt need to create a place of our own. A place “to make trouble, to stir up potent response to devastating events, as well as to settle troubled waters and rebuild quiet places”.
Our ground is that we need each other to deal with the pain, and we need each other to celebrate the joy of life, while paradoxically still staying with the trouble.
With Alterotopia we want to deepen our understanding of what is at stake and explore the radical potential of creative encountering. Starting point is to build on our ongoing (artistic) research on the topics of power, transformative change and radical belonging.
Our aspiration is that Alterotopia will become the home of many creative encounters at the intersection of art, research and activism. A place to share the audio, visual and written work that these encounters inspire, and an ongoing invitation to find ways to dance with the trouble together.
If you are excited about what’s to come, we’d love to keep you in the loop! Sign up to receive Alterotopian updates below.
