24 June 2024
as part of (Re-)Gaining Ecological Futures: Mycopoetics, Floating University, Berlin
In this year’s edition of the (Re-)Gaining Ecological Futures curriculum, the focus is on MYCOPOETICS, to illuminate the complex world of the mycelium that is omnipresent in every ecosystem on this planet. The Mycelium could be seen as the ultimate organic network; the epitome of “symbiocene”. The mycological communities elude standardised hierarchical knowledge production and a homogeneous understanding of the world. Their way of life defies capitalist logics, mechanisms and logics of binarity and control.
How can new forms of togetherness enable us to reflect and feel anew in community? What can we learn from the way of life of the omnipresent symbiotically existing mycelium? This encounter seeks to activate points of connection in our relational webs of togetherness that oppose the extractive and divisive logic of capitalism. Inspired by some of the essential qualities of the mycelium, we will practice countering colonial and capitalist-anchored logics such as those of separation, binarity, unilateral taking and the reactionary. Through exercises of mutual care, mindfulness, revitalising our agency and holistically activating our critical awareness of our immanently interwoven interdependence as humans, and with the natural world, we will playfully draw inspiration from the poetics of the mycelium.
