Reimagining Futures

The recent Covid-19 pandemic has re-ignited the debate on the existence of biophysical and social limits to continued economic expansion. In the past 200 years, the material expansion of the economy (growth) based on market exchanges and profit maximization (economic efficiency) has certainly contributed to improving living standards in the Global North. The increasing connectedness among various parts of the globe (globalization) plays a crucial role in this process, allowing the reduction of production costs and the maximization of economic returns. At the same time, global inequality has increased considerably while the Earth system is being pushed into dangerous territory. Anthropogenic climate change, the global loss of biodiversity and the emergence of deadly pandemics are only three prominent examples. The high efficiency of the global economy appears extremely vulnerable to shocks that can easily propagate globally. In contrast to the widespread notion that sees sustainability in terms of trade-offs between social, economic and environmental goals, this talk points to the fact that economic processes are embedded in social contexts and ultimately in a finite non-growing biosphere. Sustainability is therefore a matter of scale of the economic system with respect to the containing social and ecological systems. The existence of planetary boundaries requires us to re-imagine a new economic system, beyond growth and efficiency, capable of meeting the needs of all people (sufficiency) without crossing the planetary thresholds.

Having followed the intellectual and visionary development of urbanisation for the last 20 years, this lecture will be the possibility to join the intense journey to informal cities, and a tool-box for transformation from Europe to South-America, South-Africa and back to the Balkans. Following his hypothesis “Urban-Design is frozen politics”, Klumpner will show the dynamic processes, developing prototypical projects inscribed in, Chaos, Cosmos and Capital.

When we look through the lens of wonder we connect with our imagination, creativity and resilience. We open up the space to flourish in our daily lives. What we are present to in wondering, unfolds our future selves. This talk explores why, how and what we can wonder now, to create the possibility of new futures which align with a flourishing planet.

Wonder is a powerful, practical tool used in futures, design and systems-thinking to imagine, explore and challenge the status quo of the present and disrupt predictions of the future. Wonder creates a level-playing field for everyone to come to the table to share their unique blend of problem-solving creativity. It enables us to connect deeply to Nature and be inspired by it for innovative solutions. Wondering brings us into states of flow and deep play, triggering positive emotions which contribute to our wellbeing. What we wonder together, plants the seeds of change that we will take back into our individual lives and share with our communities of change.

The failure of socioeconomic systems has been associated, among other factors, with outdated cultural values. We will participate together in a discussion about spirituality and value systems for a sustainable socioeconomic development focusing on inclusiveness and the concepts of duality/non-duality.

Imagine a world where we can channel our imagination into physical tools to express ourselves.

We welcome the curious explorer to dive into the world of analog audio and video synthesis. Let us guide you through the magical land of sound and light. Listen, see and try for yourself.

Decoding Motion movement research and development project – is an open source for movement knowledge, research and development for movement intelligence between different practitioners, artists and other professional and inspirational people around the world who resonate with the project’s vision.

As the project grows and develops it is taking over a large share of wisdom and insights new and old from different traditions, disciplines, methods and schools of thought into human physicality and mentality, mainly in the field of human movement along with other fields that interface and interact with it directly or indirectly such as breath work, body work, neuro science, art, philosophy, medicine etc.

We learn how to develop our own movement intelligence using different exercises and techniques practiced and inspired from different disciplines, mainly from the worlds of martial arts, contemporary dance, and soft acrobatics as well as other fields of movement and finding and exploring the connections and interfaces they all share between them.

FUNDAMENTALS:
We are by nature and design storytellers. Photography – invented for this reason I believe – has a unique power to convey a message and tell the story.

A single photo is a document of a single moment in time, a fraction of a second only. But that is not to say that the way it is crafted has no significance on how the viewer will receive it.

Nowadays it is easier than ever to be a visual storyteller with our powerful gadgets right there in our pockets. Any smartphone these days gives a very smart, indeed, chance to express ourselves and show we see the world around. It also gives a unique chance to share some of our inner landscape and create our own poetry.

To tell our tells well we might need to know a few things and collect some useful skills in our creative “toolbox”.

REQUIREMENTS:
Digital camera or a mobile phone with a camera.

OBJECTIVE:
Developing those “tool” – from technical to very personal – would be a main objective of the workshop. To learn now to look and where, how to make an eye-heart-finger connection and how to construct 3-5 photo based stories.

I promise very little theory, much more hands-on and active experiments and exercises. Student’s self-analysis, feedback and exchange being the main guide of the shared process. Open and participatory attitude to exploring and creating. Working within the collective. Supporting and nurturing individuals on their unique journey. Fun and free space to play and open up. Mistakes and surprises being the VIP guests!

THEME:
The actual theme to the title to be orientated close to the Festival’s message and inspired by its location.

Past – Present – Future

Adventure of portrait/auto-portrait – The Future Me? How do we get there? Where are we going? etc.

Would love to hear from the core team about their ideas and suggestions 🙂

OUTCOME:
Final outcome – a projected exhibition of our stories showcasing everybody’s journey.
Hopefully followed by a discussion with the audience to hear their impressions and feedback.

INSPIRATION:
“In photography, narrative is related to the idea of context. No matter how complete or comprehensive a narrative appears, it will always be the product of including some elements and excluding others. Inclusion/exclusion is part of what construction is all about, but knowing what is best included or excluded requires an understanding of context. And an understanding of context requires visual storytellers to be highly proficient researchers.”

David Campbell – Documentary Photographer

What if every obstacle was just an opportunity? Seeing connections others won’t. // How science-based creativity practices can help you thrive in a world of change and uncertainty and re-imagine your future.

The “Creativity Gym” workshop helps you understand the science behind creativity. Once we translate the latest scientific research around creativity into easy-to-apply tools and creativity practices, we can train creativity like our rusty muscles at the gym. The more our creativity muscles grow over time, the easier it becomes for us to solve problems faster and more original, grow our imagination and idea generation capacity and turn obstacles into opportunities. As a nice side-effect, you will also become more curious, open-minded, and resilient.

We will connect to the life in the garden using mindfulness and then use it as a mirror to connect with our inner nature. What is alive or wants to live in us? Silent walks, guided meditation, sharing. Out of the head and in to the heart.

In this workshop we explore the world of Bodypainting. Through each stroke of the brush and the union between colors and skin we bridge into a new form of connection- dwelling into a world of infinite possibilities. Join me in this exploration where we can express and create together.

Imagine a future where we could discuss and be friend with plants or other living forces. 

Plants have great wisdom and they are the gardeners and landscapers of our world. Can we strain our ears to listen to them?

This workshop offers to experiment a sensory and creative connection to plants that will not talk about botanical knowledge or gardening: it combines writing, physical and spatial exploration and plant creation.

I invite you to create a pattern from plants or materials from the castle park and be able to make a card or a poster. You will leave with the file of your creation and I hope with a personal message from the plants.

Do you want to give it a try?

Using creativity and fun as a base for healthy and thriving eco-social landscapes.

Horizontal project management and participatory governance as direct action to face global crisis and climate change. The new ethical social paradigm of life in harmony with nature and each other. Local solutions for global problems creating proposals with neighbourocracy bottom-up strategies and design. How to create human living systems operating under the principles and guidelines of nature.

What does the World need? Courageous and open Hearts who explore and create together.

I love to create together. Help me bloom by helping you blossom in this piece of Artwork.

Blooming Together is a piece of expressive Art created with a group. It is an experiment with the modern philosophy of leadership, that aims to bring out the best in all. Inspired by Peter Koenig`s Masterclass in Money Work, I want to introduce and use the principals of his currently explored subject of Source Work. So let`s all be sources and seeds… encouraging each other to be authentic, brave, courageous and maybe bold.

The aim is to explore embodied movement with colour, and to create from a clear and peaceful sense of I, in to a vibrant, intuitive and calm space of we, with as little of talked and discussed agreements as possible.

In this workshop, you will get tools to feel in to the body, find your comfort zone and hopefully expand that. Play with expressing a variety of feelings while exploring some simple tools of with movement, colour and texture.

In the second session, we will go into a ceremonial space where we will bloom together and watch our intuition unfold and grow into a piece of artwork.

Is this group a wild meadow? A groomed rose garden? A highly cultured and nourishing vegetable garden? Let’s explore together what we want to foster in the future.

We start with a handstand, we end with an object standing in our hands.
We play with clay, diving into one of the oldest forms of art: pottery.
With our hands, we give shape to bowls and teacups, little gods of uncertain provenance, and shapely vessels which can hold anything, all the while attuning our fingertips, fingers and palms to the surprisingly malleable clay.

Bellydance is a powerful ancient form of dance which combine smooth and waving movements with precise and strong movements creating the dissociation and coordination from different parts of the body.

Bellydance gives a great focus into the pelvic and belly zone that are the gravitation center of the body and energetic camp. It’s the center that connect us with our feminity.

In the first session of this workshop we will immerse on a didactic way into Belly dance, starting with a warm up with upper body and lower body techniques and then create a sequence with the movements learnt. In the second session you will learn the Silk Fans fundamentals : Basic Wrist Movements, Flourishes, Frames & Turns. Incorporating this colourful prop into our sacred dance, creating an organic sequence all together.

Come to practice and experience the beauty of Bellydance with Silk Fans! ♥
Not experience required

This workshop delves into Manipulation Techniques – an exploration of the beautiful patterns and dynamic geometries that can be created using S Staff or Buugeng (From the Japanese ‘Buu’ = optical illusion, ‘geng’ = martial arts)

You never played with buugeng before? So this is the opportunity for you to start the journey of buugeng, you Will be able to learn all the concepts of 1 & 2 beats, fingerspin, liquid weave and much more!

Our body is the instrument that the universe plays on.

In this workshop we will arrive in our bodies, connect to our breath and experiment with our voices, where our main focus lays.

To sing and make sound is, in a way, an inner massage for our bodies, it can release stuck energies and bring us into flow. It also creates connections between people, like tuning ourselves to the same sound waves. As the voice is a very important medium to express ourselves in society, it is worthwhile to understand and connect to our own voice.

This morning session is created for everyone, no matter how much experience you bring. I want to create a safe space without judgement, where we can be inspired by each other and experiment together with playfulness.

I am bringing in my knowledge from my long experience in solo singing and choir, as well as from my spiritual journey as a sufi, and from my contemporary dance education.

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.

Discover Capoeira, a movement philosophy to use and train your body while using your different senses and having fun!
Capoeria is a harmony of strength, flexibility, endurance, agility and self-discovery. Body, mind and soul are balanced through this dance-martial art. Beside the physical elements, rhythm and music are a big part of it. Capoeira originates Brazil, within a context where people in slavery developed Capoeira to fight for freedom and independence. Now, Capoeira is no longer just „Brazilian“ and has spread the world over and lives alongside the local culture in many countries.
As my teacher always used to say “Capoeira is for everyone but not everyone is for Capoeira” So give it try, you may like it a lot

For this special gathering, Jkson has prepared an Ecstatic Dance for the morning to share with all of us. These last years, Jkson has been recording, ceremonial songs, native communities which will be presented in this performance in hybrid live set with unreleased tracks and some samples that you will remember from some sonorous trip. A journey from the inside out, connecting your inner self with your moving body.

Inspired by the work of Jean Shinoda Bolen, a circle of trust is a safe space for communication and co-creation, based on equality, mutual respect, shared responsibility and free expression of the self. The circular form, with all points equidistant from a centre, constitutes a metaphor of a social structure without hierarchies, in which all its members are equally valued and accepted as they are, regardless of their circumstances.

This morning activity gives participants the opportunity of experiencing alternative forms of personal interaction. After a short tune-in exercise, they will be able to connect with their thoughts, expectations and inner state, which they may share with the group, in a morning circle to start the day with awareness. The collective construction of the space, shaped by the words delivered and received within the circle, will offer participants a unique and transformative social experience much in the spirit of the theme of this year’s Kaleido retreat.

Reimagining our future as individuals and as a society requires alternative ways of generating knowledge, perceiving our environment and relating to ourselves and to others. The most powerful changes are generated at a grass-root level, slowly but steady, fuelled by the cumulative outcomes of individual actions. Symbolic rituals, like the circle, have an impact in our subconscious mind and establish the foundations for new possibilities on the level of reality. They generate an expansive wave that reaches places far away from their epicentre, getting the word out, approaching the critical mass, leading to a change.

“Leave no traces, leave only frequencies of beauty.”

What students can find in Aurélia’s class, is the co-creation of a space where everything is allowed to just be the way it is. Our breath guides us and brings calm and harmony to our body-mind-system, as well as to our more overarching sense of space, where the interplay between outside and inside can be experienced and explored. The sequences cleanse and invite us to sway in a balance between powerful strong movements as well as silence and meditation. The neuronal connections and the navigation of attention and awareness are equally integrated as are playful and joyous flows that invite you to fully arrive at yourself in the moment. All you need to know for your very own life already lies within you, and the yoga class can support you in bringing forth this deep personal knowledge.

Get ready for an intense night of dancing on afro house and melodic techno. Paradoks’ music and the energy of the dancefloor will make time and space disappear during the deep night, a perfect setting to empty our minds and awaken our bodies.

Equilibria will create an unforgettable visual and sensorial experience at Kaleido Retreat combining juggling, dance, light and modern technology.