Be’ nesa Utopias Bach what next?

 Gwaith ar y gweill: this page is a work in progress

Context

Utopias Bach started in the summer/Autumn of 2020 through word of mouth and zoom meetings. The ‘development group’ (which became the ‘Collaboratory’) gradually grew, developing the idea of ‘Utopias Bach’ and how we might use (socially engaged) art to create space for meeting, creating and being the change at small scale. Over the last two years we have grown from one to four to twenty to a constellation of around one hundred creatives, academics, people working in community and interested individuals. Some stay in close contact, others come and go or quickly become independent.  We are focused on North West Wales, but reaching as far as Spain, Argentina and Malawi. We are not growing to be ‘big’, we are growing within the metaphor (introduced by Lisa Hudson) of a strawberry plant, feeding and supporting small groupings to take root wherever they find fertile ground.

The Collaboratory developed the way of working that we have been using over the last 2 years. It includes values and questions, and a way of thinking about what we are doing.

In July 2021, we secured funding from Arts Council Wales’ Connect and Flourish fund, ending in July 2022. To oversee the grant-funded period, we established a ‘core partnership’ between Julie Upmeyer (Plas Bodfa, our ‘host organisation’ for ACW funding), Lindsey Colbourne, Lisa Hudson, Samina Ali and Wanda Zyborska. This group worked closely together, as well as with the Collaboratory. At our ‘ACW funding year-end’ gathering, the Deconstructed Conference in June 2022, those attending discussed and decided we wanted Utopias Bach to continue. We also decided that we would take a few months to reflect on and consolidate where we’d got to. And after that we would return to a non-funded period to work out what we want utopias bach to become, without any requirements from ‘outside’. To do so, we are returning to our Collaboratory to work out what to do and how.

All ideas, concerns, offers, wants etc are welcome!

See below for how things are developing… (this is a bit like a diary, so scroll to the bottom for the most recent - Y Blwyddyn i Ddod, the year to come, 2024)

In 2024 we will be 4 years old!

 

Collaboratories August 2022

Collaboratory over zoom 31.8.22

This is the zoom recording of the 31.8.22 Utopias Bach Collaboratory meeting in which we start to envisage, develop and share ideas for what next with Utopias Bach. What might we want to be, do, how... and what questions do we need to answer?...

At the beginning of the recording Samina runs a beautiful guided meditation, to ease us into focusing on the future of Utopias Bach, and our relationship with it. If you missed this meeting, giving it a go yourself, might be a useful ‘way in’ to contributing to the conversation.

Here are some notes of the conversations by Samina.

Ideas from the zoom for what Utopias Bach could become:

  • Becoming a collective!

  • Dysgu! A community of enquiry. Becoming a learning space where we all teach and learn. A community of enquiry. Lots of different modules - ideas and questions and flows that people could join. Horizontal/equal space where all are welcome. Many subjects, ideas, discussions to allow us to think,explore, experience, understand and question.

  • Slow down!

  • Keep small!

  • Hive mind! Humans and more-than-humans

  • Transformation of self (within the collective)! Being the change we want to see

  • Keep healthy! Recognising the work being done might be emotional as well as physical/intellectal/creative

  • Ripples and flows! No commitment needed, we can come in and out, or stay on the edge as it suits. Utopias Bach allows a different type of flow - it is whoever is doing something or gathering at any one time.

  • Work with other organisations/groups!

  • Collaboratories! One real life and one virtual (each month). Different people could offer to ‘host’ or bring a question or an experiment or an invitation.

  • 6 monthly reviews! A way of making sense or seeing what we have discovered

  • Website (and email mailing list)! helps support people feeling able to come in and out

Questions we want to explore:

  • How do we make decisions?

  • Who decides if something ‘is Utopias Bach’ or not?

  • How do we organise ourselves so things unfold and the unexpected can happen… but without drifting so much that we lose momentum?

  • Does the ‘core’ need to be bigger, smaller, different? Could it flow in some way?

  • What roles do we need and what would people like to offer to do?

  • How can we keep ourselves healthy as a group?

  • How do we recognise the people who are doing the work, and/or how do we share the work?

  • How do we nourish and support those that are doing the work (‘the core’)?

  • Could we explore how we could use different methods of communication for different purposes eg whatsapp? (can we transform ‘toxic’ methods of communication into positive ones like we have with zoom)

  • Does there need to be some kind of income of some kind? Could we go for funding for some aspects of Utopias Bach? Could different experiments go for funding?

  • What practically do we want to do as a group?

  • Do we want to take what we do out into the world? What and how?

  • How do we put things ‘on the table’, and where is the table for us to bring things to?

  • Where do we put the ideas, opportunities, projects, experiments we might have to find out who else might be interested?

  • Would it be ok to/how to invite specific people to be part of something, without others feeling excluded?

  • In sharing our projects and ideas is there a vulnerability (eg that we ‘lose’ ownership/authorship/credit)?

 

Collaboratory @ Treborth 3.9.22

On Saturday 3rd September we continued the conversation, and welcomed new people (Jeff Morgan, Jo Alexander, Emily Meilleur, Irene Gonzalez) to it, as well as some who had also been on the zoom meeting (Lisa Hudson, Steph Shipley, Sarah Pogoda, Kar Rowson, Wanda Zyborska, Lindsey Colbourne) at a Utopias Bach picnic at Treborth Gardens, Bangor. We used Samina’s notes and Lindsey had transcribed points (yellow = ideas; blue = offers; orange = questions) from the zoom, as a starting point for conversation.

The idea of Utopias Bach being (continuing to be) a learning community (“Dysgu!”), and how we might manage that as a collective.

Irene and Sarah both had things they wanted to ‘bring to the table’, so we used these as examples to find out how it might work:

Why bring something to Utopias Bach? It feels a safe space to try something out. To find others interested in co-creating or exploring something. Perhaps to find other forms of support eg access to venues, communication etc [But not funding at this point, see below]

Who can bring things to Utopias Bach? Ideally, everyone who brings something would come to at least one Collaboratory first. So they understand what we are, how we work etc.

How do we decide if it is Utopias Bach or not? Someone brings their ‘offer’ to a Collaboratory meeting. We worked through two types of ‘offer’

  • a new ‘experiment’ by an individual. eg Irene would like to develop ‘Migration Net’, exploring migration, belonging, identity and culture through deconstructing embodied flamenco dance. Emily

  • something more run by/with an outside organisation or group that we might take part in (individually or collectively) eg Sarah and Zoë Skoulding (with Bangor university) would like to explore non-human and more-than-human creativity and authorship (September 22 - July 23) with references to the Avant-Garde. And Lisa mentioned Gwyl Afon Ogwen opportunities. Sarah also mentioned a call out to come soon from Pontio for their Trees programme.

The ‘decision’ is through conversation and feedback: is there resonance with Utopias Bach’s aims and values? Any concerns? Ideas? Who would like to get involved?

If it is an organisation, check it is to collaborate rather than ‘absorb’. If it is simply an offer of individuals becoming involved in something, we might just offer to publicise it. If a group from UB would like to do something collectively (eg apply to the Pontio Trees programme), then someone might offer to be the contact point for the group.

Find out if anyone would like to offer to be a mentor (see below)?

What happens next? The person with the ‘offer’ sends in a paragraph or two and an image (or audio or video equivalent) to Lindsey to include in an ‘offers’ newsletter that is sent out to the mailing list. Or they can write a whole blog about it. People who are interested contact them directly. It also gets added to the list of ‘experiments’ and/or list of events.

How does the experiment/person/opportunity keep tied into Utopias Bach?

  • encourage them to take part in Collaboratories

  • have a mentor - someone who is an ‘experienced’ UB person who can support the person running the experiment, give feedback, make connections within UB.

  • encourage reflection - we could a Collaboratory that focuses on reflections/learning/focusing on specific experiments every other month

  • a webpage - each experiment or activity could have its own webpage if wanted on the UB website, or links to their own page from the UB website.

Other things we discussed:

Funding - we talked about UB not being a formal organisation of any kind and therefore unable to apply directly for funding. We thought individuals/experiments could apply for their own? And also we might try different (small) ‘host organisations’ (as Plas Bodfa was for the Connect and Flourish fund), and use this like a ‘viral infestation’(!) or opportunity to infiltrate and collaborate with new people and organisations.

Exclusion - could we have a session just exploring issues and scenarios around exclusion and inclusivity? In all its aspects eg how to deal with it if someone is feeling excluded, how to do something exclusively if needed (eg they have particular people they want to collaborate with, making a decision quickly about something). This also ties in with the idea of Utopias Bach just being who is doing something or attending something - fluid, like an amoeba.


Blogs - if anyone would like to write a blog at any time about anything, please do and send to Lindsey

Collaboratory Zoom 5.10.22

 

Collated ideas and questions and offers

Ideas so far

  • Becoming a collective! Or are we more an umbrella?

  • Dysgu! A community of enquiry. Becoming a learning space where we all teach and learn. A community of enquiry. Lots of different modules - ideas and questions and flows that people could join. Horizontal/equal space where all are welcome. Many subjects, ideas, discussions to allow us to think,explore, experience, understand and question.

  • Slow down!

  • Keep small!

  • Love and compassion!

  • Hive mind! Humans and more-than-humans

  • Transformation of self! Being the change we want to see

  • Keep healthy! Recognising the work being done might be emotional as well as physical/intellectal/creative. Perhaps all those with named roles or jobs to do could have a mentor to bounce ideas off/get support from.

  • Ripples and flows! No commitment needed, we can come in and out, or stay on the edge as it suits. Utopias Bach allows a different type of flow - it is whoever is doing something or gathering at any one time.

  • Experiments! Some of these are continuing (eg TEXTure, Cathedral of Trees, Merched y Tir, Aurora) and more are welcome. Ideas for a process for these is set out in the Treborth gardens discussion above

  • Work with other organisations/groups!

  • Collaboratories! One real life and one virtual (each month). Different people could offer to ‘host’ or bring a question or an experiment or an invitation. Have a Collaboratory that focuses on reflections/learning/focusing on specific experiments every other month. So one month is about ‘big questions’ and one about reflection on specific experiments.

  • 6 monthly reviews! A way of making sense or seeing what we have discovered

  • Website (and email mailing list)! helps support people feeling able to come in and out, a place to go to to find out what is going on, collate results of experiments etc

  • Blogs - welcome on anything that you think are relevant to Utopias Bach, from anyone!

 Offers - see also our Gwahoddiad/Invitations page

  • Iain Biggs: I’d like to offer to coordinate an online reading group for Utopias Bach. Knowing the problem with reading groups is that people often have trouble getting hold of the book and then don't have time/energy to get through a whole book chapter by chapter by the agreed dates due to life's ups and downs. So I want to suggest a poetry reading group. In particular, one that focuses on poems we feel relate to UB's concerns in some way. We could take it in turn to type out and circulate a poem (nothing too long!) and then meet by skype to discuss it.

  • Elinor Gwynn: Translation

  • Kar Rowson: Explore my role as Head of Noticing more. Also how to tie in Utopias Bach to her MA. Writing a blog about her UB experience.

  • Lindsey Colbourne: I’d like to offer to continue with admin and website and general connecting/nourishing, and documenting. Perhaps my role could be Composter? And to assist with funding applications if we want to do that. Continue with Merched y Tir

  • El Davies: I’d like to find money and others who would like to get involved in ‘Watchers Watched’

  • Lisa Hudson: Collaboratory meetings - host/attend. I’d like to continue with TEXTure. Inviting people to take part in Gwyl Afon Ogwen

  • Gaia Redgrave: Continue with Cathedral of the Trees

  • Sarah Pogoda: Utopias Bach involvement in the Being Human Festival in November. Also in the Bangor University Non-human and more-than-human creativity and authorship programme (september 22 - July 23). Also to be a mentor.

  • Seran Dolma:There is also room for the relationship between UB and Oriel Brondanw to develop further if that feels like a fruitful path to go down.

  • Llinos Griffin, El Davies, Lindsey Colbourne, Gaia Redgrave: Inviting people to work up ideas (starting January 2023) for engaging with with Galeri, Caernarfon 2023/4

  • Irene Gonzalez - ‘Migration Net’, exploring migration, belonging, identity and culture through deconstructing embodied flamenco dance.

  • Samina Ali and Emily Meilleur - are inviting people to join Humycelium

  • Emma Jayne-Holmes and Emily Wilkinson are gathering people interested over towards Llangollen way

  • Samina Ali is inviting interest in exploring embodied trauma.

  • Gaia Redgrave is thinking about a role around the energy she can see/other world communication

 Questions

  • How do we make decisions?

  • How do we make decisions quickly if we need to?

  • Who decides if something ‘is Utopias Bach’ or not?

  • How do we organise ourselves so things unfold and the unexpected can happen… but without drifting so much that we lose momentum?

  • Does the ‘core’ need to be bigger, smaller, different? Could it flow in some way?

  • What roles do we need and what would people like to offer to do?

  • How can we keep ourselves healthy as a group?

  • How do we recognise the people who are doing the work, and/or how do we share the work?

  • How do we nourish and support those that are doing the work (‘the core’)?

  • Could we explore how we could use different methods of communication for different purposes eg whatsapp? (can we transform ‘toxic’ methods of communication into positive ones like we have with zoom)

  • Does there need to be some kind of income of some kind? Could we go for funding for some aspects of Utopias Bach? Could different experiments go for funding?

  • What practically do we want to do as a group?

  • Do we want to take what we do out into the world? What and how?

  • How do we put things ‘on the table’, and where is the table for us to bring things to?

  • Where do we put the ideas, opportunities, projects, experiments we might have to find out who else might be interested?

  • Would it be ok to/how to invite specific people to be part of something, without others feeling excluded?

  • In sharing our projects and ideas is there a vulnerability (eg that we ‘lose’ ownership/authorship/credit)?

  • How do we deal with ‘exclusion’?

Collaboratory 14.12.22 - sharing upcoming experiments and activities for 2023

(see also our invitations page and events page and experiments page for information on what’s coming up)

 

Collaboratory 25.1.24 - Y Blwyddyn i ddod: the year to come

In 2024 we will become 4 years old! (fruits and flowers are traditionally associated with a 4 year anniversary)…

At this Collaboratory we started by talking of the ‘overall sense/feel’ of the year ahead we wanted with utopias bach. The words we came up with are:

  • CONSOLIDATING (a heading not a shout)

  • snowdrop spears pushing through, wasp waking in bathrooom and flying off, seasonal anxiety

  • As I did stand my watch upon the hill, I looked toward Birnam, and anon, methought, The wood began to move.

  • Expanding into peace

  • acorn - jay - oak

  • consolidating, connecting, sharing

  • Development from calm reflection of life

  • spring - hope- love 

  • resilience, offerings, walking together 

  • Consolidating: overview, quilting, eiderdown, covering;

  • documentation - connecting - defining - refining.

  • I am re-defining my role, and refining what I want to do

We also talked of the ‘3 aspects of Utopias Bach’, what is already planned and some questions…

1. Collaboratory

-   Grwp Barddoniaeth Poetry Group

-   Cwilt Utopias Bach Quilt

-   Dysgu Cymraeg

-   Mentoring

 

-   Different types of meetings/visits? Topics? Locations? Hosts?

-   Blogs?

-   Profile on UB website of each ‘member’ of UB? Including our ‘role’?

 

2. Experiments

-   Cysylltu

-   Rewilding the Artist Breaking New Ground

-   Take my Hand

-   Crone Cast

-   Mudiad Mycelium Movement

-   Stori’r Tir Dyffryn Peris

 

3. Exhibitions/books/documentation/courses

-   Cwrs Utopias Bach Course

-   Slow Study – eg consolidate Ysgol Arbrofol Tree Sense… or new – Rivers?

-   Invitations/scripts ‘book’?