Academia and fun

On Wednesday the 16th of September a new Knowledge Center for long term Futures was launched. Maya Van Leemput had invited two colleagues from abroad both involved in applied futures research. The name of the project is Open Time. The Open Time team consists of Maya Van Leemput, Chris De Smedt and Annie Verhaeghen. After the presentation we got more than an inkling of what Open Time Futures research can bring to you.

The program was interesting with a warm and to the point welcome by Maya Van Leemput, coordinator of the knowledge center. After that Cornelia Daheim from Duisburg Germany spoke about using creative methods for foresight in practice. There were practical workshops and I must admit I had a lot of fun of role playing and trying to think out of the box, not always simple, since the items of the day, like the many refugees who need a welcome and a place, a legal status and such in foremost on peoples minds. The other workshops were: The thing from the future, a gaming technique to think up possibilities of futures, there was Futures Wheel, an exploratory workshop technique entailing to alway look at the consequences of a change, and what that changes causes 'down the time-line'. There also was a workshop called: The four quadrants scenario, a rather popular method.

Luc De Boever, the departmental director held a warm and funny speech which touched upon the normal layman's questions on how one can do research about what doesn't exist yet. As Maya had already stipulated that there are no future facts. Thus new ways of research have to be thought off and we got a bit of glance of the possibilities. It is great that Applied Futures Research has found a home at the Erasmus Highschool, in Brussels.

It was an enlightening and fun experience with a lot of food for though. Thanks to all who made this possible.

Experiments...

As part of mopdo2014, that is a mooc course taught by Al Filreis and the talented group of TA's (teachers assistants). So I was offered Bernadette Meyers who had made lists about what to write. I got intrigued what would happen when I would just start writing. This was the result.

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Bernadette Meyers experiments

don’t dream
hardly sleep
do eat
       Do you have a recipe for Eiershekken
       Spending too much?
       Wind in November   -  Sun in October
Frost before leaving after mending house
Every day subjects – reading – beauty
        Found art
        Friends
        Hiraeth: the longing to return to a home that never was
        Travel tomorrow Thuesday arrive on Thursday
        Las Vegas – Antwerp
        do this-do that
        Sunsets every night
Write every day

Make every word 

new
        Change
        Dog days
        Change the course
Write while it happens:

Make every word 

count
*
The sun caresses
the tops of the Cerbats
stretching into shadows
in the valleys the light  can’t linger
darkness there
and silence
of the soul
so it is
caress
distance
            this
 *

The appearance of workers in the desert will happen again and coincidences of meetings will occur at random, a possibility. Yes Emily we all live in possibility, should be aware and use it wisely – always to remembering to gather paradise.
But a paradise without a snake, what would have meant that to humanity? The shadows have stopped in the tree covering the air over asphalt –
This happened – just now –
Did it happen as part of a biography...

The words in a poem most difficult
Most important
THIS and IT

The unidentified, open, abstract
This and all that remains is now

I walk this path
Coming going
Endless indivisible
Back and forth
Polder and desert

And
This

The process
Of then and now
And the road
All
This
***

I eliminated adjectives and I from the text I wrote, thinking again and again of 'This' and 'it'. The I gone, the text became independent, although flowing around the facts of life of the days I did the work and the essay: traveling with a small dog back to Antwerp, Belgium. My head filled with info about coincidences, chance, freedom... This type of thinking through the experiments was very liberating. Getting out of a comfort zone, feeling challenged and remembering all kinds of lines from poems studied... enjoying the task at hand.

Swansong: The presentation in den Hopsack packed to the rafters

Finally the day came of the presentation of Rose Vandewalle's Zwanenzang/Swansong came. The day before, Jean Demey who was going to lay while Viv who read the Dutch text and I would read. Of course I read the English version since it is my translation. The only thing Jean asked was that I read the 33 poems calm and sober, leave five counts between the different poems. So at the evening Jean brought his black and shiny contrabass guitar and installed himself between the two readers a bid behind them. I loved what he did: a bit Ravi Shankar and a lot of Jean, but intimate, withheld, sober as he  had told me to read. Viv is a different person she taught in the Lemmen's Institute speech and diction. She would accentuate certain words, and thus created a different flow. Being on the stage I have no pictures to show... But the audience was quiet, listened and appreciated the introduction of Bert Jans from Dodo Press and the flow of Rose's work in the music and the different ways of reading. A friend, Bart Stouten was so sweet: he explained me why my translations into English are good. He said he felt I questioned the words at a deeper level in both languages and thus would find a better match between them. I must admit I was a bit flattered... The evening was warm and caring and every one had a good time.

Reading in the Rurhort Gallery.

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Reading in three languages is quite a challenge when this is in a small gallery with nice people, and when one tries to give them all something to love. The poetry read was personal, yet in such a way that it could be shared, even without the right language. I have read some poetry by Native American authors and poetry I wrote. The musicians jamming behind me supported my reading. The atmosphere was great. The old ladies were kind and seemed to enjoy themselves. The spirit of cooperation was present and the general sphere generous. Here you find the slideshow Fred Schywek made that night. Enjoy. Thanks for the good time! His reading is outstanding!