Curating common well-being is a research on cultural commons, its meaning and implementation. Carried out during the months of March to December 2020 by Platohedro in collaboration with Penny Travlou (Edinburgh University), it gives continuity to the work we have been developing since 2016 in the context of Medellín and Colombia.
We understand the research process in an expanded way, which includes diverse creative practices such as: artistic creation and speculative design of objects for new worlds; production of content in radio format; academic reflections and collective thinking exercises around the idea of Buen Vivir/Good Living.
Good Living is a concept based on Andean indigenous wisdom (Sumak Kawsay** in Quechua and Suma Qamaña*** in the Aymara language) and practice of more balanced relationships within ecosystems and amongst all beings, human and non-human, as a path to a common well-being. For Platohedro, this is the vision that guides our practices and our missionary starting point. Everything we do relates and adapts to this way of thinking, doing and being. And as such, we consider it a dynamic concept, which we translate and make our own with respect and care by situating it in time, context, needs and desires.
This process is part of the Power to the Commons! project developed in 2020 with the organizations Kër Thiossane (Senegal), Waza (Democratic Republic of Congo), together with the researchers Dieynaba Ndiaye (Senegal), Iris Bouillet (Switzerland) and Molemo Moiloa (South Africa). Power to the Commons! Seeks to promote and elevate creative critical thinking and collaboration between organizations from the global South in the meaning of the commons in and for our local contexts.
This research was carried out with the support of the Arts Collaboratory network.
Contents:
Reflections through art: