Friday, 8 February, 17:00 – 21:00
Free but RSVP is necessary, please bring a contribution to the potluck dinner
English and Dutch
Our thinking is significantly influenced by an orientation towards money. The original function of money as a means of exchange has been replaced by money as a target in and of itself. There are many innovative perspectives and ideas, and sometimes successful practices, that offer alternatives to the capitalist free-market economy. But which ones are relevant to art and culture? Which aspects of them seem to prevent change? Which paths are passable? What can we learn from pioneers of diverse economies in other sectors, from (international) good practice and breakthroughs? The emphasis this evening is on inventorying and formulating practical perspectives that can contribute to the transition away from the free-market economy. You don’t need to be an expert, just an enthusiastic studier who’s open to creative cooperation and eager to bring knowledge to action in common.
This study meeting is organized as part of Casco’s study line Diverse Economies – for a commons economy. Diverse Economies understands the economy as more diverse than capitalist financial transactions. Instead, it sees it as consisting mostly of social and non-financial exchange – a reality that mostly disappeared within the capitalist economy.
Our New Economy (ONE) strives for an economy that offers well-being for all humans within the ecological limitations of this planet. To achieve this, they collaborate with thinkers and entrepreneurs on theory and practice that demonstrate the possibilities for this. The collaboration between Casco Art Institute and Our New Economy is based on the mutual recognition of a need for practical and action perspectives.
Femke Herregraven has a research-based practice in which she maps out abstract financial processes and considers their implications. Her work concerns the physical infrastructure that financial processes need in order to operate, as well as their grave ecological consequences. These processes create images only built from code. These ‘images’ are not meant for human eyes, but are translated into representations that are visible to us and understandable to a certain extent. Herregraven focuses on the position of the human in these mechanisms and thus makes the immeasurable abstraction of data visible on a human scale.
