Desert Transformation Lab
Desert Transformation Lab is a wondering school for innovative social and cultural practices. It offers a 2 month educational journey—a wild faculty of transformation—where we imagine beyond the boundaries of our anthropocentric minds, and create a space for the emergence of a new ecological paradigm.
Nestled in the heart of the biggest anthropogenic desert in Europe, Błędowska Desert in the southern Poland, Desert Transformation Lab will open its artistic research & development programme 1st of June 2024 by welcoming an international group of 30 artists, educators, scientists, and activists into a month-long residency. The programme will unravel in five laboratories, dedicated to different areas of life: Future Food Lab, Planetary Movements Lab, Resonance Lab, Sandcraft Lab and Coexistence Lab.
Over the course of June the participants will focus on researching the biological, societal, cosmological and transformative aspects of Pustynia Błędowska and the surrounding region of Poland. They will facilitate regular workshops focused on development of skills, toolsets and guidelines for effective knowledge sharing, new pedagogical approaches and holistic activism.
In July, the resident artists will become the main hosts and facilitators of the thematic labs that form the curriculum of the public educational programme. Over the course of four weeks the public programme will offer seminars, workshops and conferences open to transgenerational local and transnational public.
Partnering with cultural institutions, environmental departments, academia, eco-technology and innovation start-ups and local entrepreneurs Desert Transformation Lab aims to create a transdisciplinary educational programme and a long-standing network of regenerative culture allies. Desert Transformational Lab will leave beyond its locality, being presented during the SACO Biennial in Antofagasta, Chile, and a Desert Conference in Berlin, Germany in 2025.
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LIOS Labs ‘Arts of Ecology’ village, Błędowska Desert, 2021 -
“Feminine Labyrinth” by Beatrice Zerbato, ‘Arts of Ecology’ residency programme, Błędowska Desert, 2021 -
Franz’s Harp, ‘Arts of Ecology’ Residency Programme, Błędowska Desert, 2022 -
Still from “Inner Grid” workshop performance by Emila Tapprest, ‘Arts of Ecology’ Residency Programme, Błędowska Desert, 2021 -
LIOS Labs ‘Arts of Ecology’ village, Błędowska Desert, 2021
Over the course of June the participants will focus on researching the biological, societal, cosmological and transformative aspects of Pustynia Błędowska and the surrounding region of Poland. They will facilitate regular workshops focused on development of skills, toolsets and guidelines for effective knowledge sharing, new pedagogical approaches and holistic activism.
In July, the resident artists will become the main hosts and facilitators of the thematic labs that form the curriculum of the public educational programme. Over the course of four weeks the public programme will offer seminars, workshops and conferences open to transgenerational local and transnational public.
Partnering with cultural institutions, environmental departments, academia, eco-technology and innovation start-ups and local entrepreneurs Desert Transformation Lab aims to create a transdisciplinary educational programme and a long-standing network of regenerative culture allies. Desert Transformational Lab will leave beyond its locality, being presented during the SACO Biennial in Antofagasta, Chile, and a Desert Conference in Berlin, Germany in 2025.
