Utopias Bach - Mewn cymuned - in community
Ymuno â ni! get involved!
Distributed Orchard (community project proposal), Nant Peris. Lindsey Colbourne 2021. Click on the image for ideas on how to make a Utopia Bach
The Birdhouse Forest, South Hero
If you are an artist, and/or work with a particular community (this could be a community of place, or of interest or characteristic), we invite you to use the idea of Utopia Bach - revolution in miniature to create your own community-based project.
In each project, an artist (or artists) would work with a community connector and a group of people (remember it doesn’t have to be a big group - sometimes just 3 people is the perfect size) to create:
experiments that explore
ideas for the future (that may already be present)
constructed/presented/framed in a small scale (physically, or as a microcosm)
that in some way might help us imagine the world a better place for humans and more-than-humans of all kinds, especially those who are most badly affected by the current state of the world.
How it works, and the focus of your community project would be up to you, although we can support you with ideas and (possibly in the future) resources. We are particularly looking for projects that would co-create with those who are particularly affected/disempowered by the state of the world, voices that are not usually heard in the ‘mainstream’, helping to create new and radical imaginings for the future.
It maybe that your project would start out with individuals in the community being supported to work up ideas for possible Utopias Bach, and how to turn them into some kind of creative output. The resulting Utopias Bach might range from gardens on a plate or bonsai forests (thinking Sitopias!) to tiny poems and books or texts and samplers; from micro conversations to online games; from puppetry and lego buildings and towns to technological innovation; from mini-monuments and Minecraft worlds to photographs, films, performances, installations, mini-actions and events or even just observation/exchange as experimental microcosms of places, relationships, systems of the future.
It maybe that you as a community would like to bring the results together in some way, perhaps discussing the ideas behind each one, or creating an (online or physical) installation. And perhaps some of the ideas might translate into a small scale physical experiment in the real world.
examples of utopia bach projects/ideas
Working in a geographical community to create aprogramme of online/offline activities, supporting people of all ages in the area to develop their own Utopias Bach, perhaps working towards some kind of exhibition. This model has been developed by Llinos Griffin and artists Siân Elen and Fiorella Wyn. See here
Working with communities of interest or experience to create Utopias Bach eg Lisa is working with homeless people in Wrexham; Wanda is working with young people involved in school strikes for climate; Steph, Debbie and Wanda are working with isolated older people
Connecting different ‘communities’ across age or geographical or cultural backgrounds eg we are connecting young people in Gwalchmai with young people in Malawi; we are working with welsh speaking women and women of colour to explore new relationships with land
An open call for individuals to make their own Utopias bach, and bringing the results together in some kind of exhibition, perhaps linked to talks/workshops/festival eg at Metamorffosis in June 2021
Working in a community to create a shared map of Utopias Bach of some kind (eg Wanda is working in the suburban area of Menai Bridge to make gardens and public areas greener through forming a group and mapping positive interventions such as planting trees and plants for birds and insects, hedgehog routes, fruit trees and wildflower meadows on Council greens, bee hotels and bird boxes. Could be extended to include plastic free shops or other local business initiatives as well. As well as an online map it could be manifest in homemade maps, miniature gardens, amongst other things:
Rethinking how we will experience ‘art’ in the future, in a small way (eg Roger is thinking of how to make arts experiences still available despite restrictions of pandemics, promenade and labyrynthyne installations of Utopias Bach in town centres)
A mini-eisteddfod, with the theme ‘2100’. This idea was trialled over whatsapp in Cwm Du by Catrin and Gruff Ellis
In 2018, GRRRLS in the Garej held a mini-monument lab, working with the community to re-imagine monuments and memorials in Llandudno, celebrating great women past, present and future (all you need is some wooden blocks, lollipop sticks an plastecene!) and creating a mini-monument procession.
In 2020, as part of Gwyl Gwrthsafiad, we held a Radical Art of Conversation workshop, exploring how community conversations could build common ground, bringing together diverse voices and opinions to find common ground
See also “Paths to Utopia” a project in 2016 by Kings College London: collaborations between artists, performers, architects, technologists and King’s academics for ideas!
You may also be inspired by ‘Tiny Fun Palaces’ happening digitally/between neighbours during lockdown in 2020. Gwynedd Archaeological Trust are holding one in October 2021
See ‘People’s Palace of Possibility’ for a more theatrical take, looking at how to create spaces, interactions and installation for sharing ideas for the future
Here is an example of radical re-imaginings of the everyday, the work of Binta Ayofemi, a black artist working with communities in Oakland to re-imagine urban development
how we can support you
If there is anything we can do to support you let us know! We could help you develop your idea, put you in touch with others, or provide you with a page on this website for example. You are also invited to join our ‘Collabatory’, a shared space (currently via zoom), meeting every two weeks to share ideas, inspirations, challenges.
Have a look around the Co-Creating Change webite for inspiration around the sort of work, and ways of working and building commumity we are hoping to explore.
We are identifying sources of possible funding for projects. If you are interested in this please let us know.
background ideas
“Within every dystopia there’s a little utopia.”
-Margaret Atwood
Please click on an image below for some background, including thoughts about utopias (heterotopias), miniatures, revolution and how bach comes to the rescue to the legacy of utopias and miniatures… These maybe useful in thinking through what you might want to do with your community…. pitfalls to avoid etc.
