Jessica Huber

I've been mainly working in the fields of performing arts. During the past 6 years my (artistic) work has been focusing on practises of exchange, sharing and collaboration – and on how to create spaces where different voices can coexist next to each other - not just as an inspiration, but as a radical (artistic & social) practise from which different formats and aesthetics emerged.

Here is one example: “The art of a culture of hope”: In 2015 J & J (James Leadbitter aka the vacuum cleaner and myself) started a long-term discussion about our system of values and about the existing and non-existing spaces for potential, possibilities, alternative narratives and action. And we asked: What would a collectively imagined future be like? What are the concerns of people across Europe? Can we have hope in our future? Can we deal with fear in a healthy way?.

“The art of a culture of hope” is a network of responses & tender provocations collected from across Europe. By listening to diverse local groups and inviting artists to share experiences, we have collected a catalogue of responses to the questions about the now, about (critical) care and about our futures and how to imagine it differently. The voices interweave the challenges they face personally with the big stories that alarm the world.

During this process we worked with 3 different formats: a) a performative evening “tender provocations of hope & fear”: where 43 artists/activist have co-shared so far (always trying to interweave local and international artists) b) a workshop format that we’ve been running with diverse groups of people (aged 6 to 102 years) while travelling through Europe c) Archive of Hopes & Fears (trying to bring the two above formats together and creating a space where the visitors can write their own story and also add her/his experiences and fantasies to the archive) Basel, Zürich, Luzern, Athens, Nyon, Cesis, Riga, Graz, Ghent, Lausanne, Berlin, Rome, Munich, Kassel (vimeo).