{"id":11350,"date":"2026-04-17T15:39:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T13:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hias-hamburg.de\/?post_type=events&p=11350"},"modified":"2026-05-28T13:21:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T11:21:57","slug":"imaginal-worldmaking","status":"publish","type":"events","link":"https:\/\/hias-hamburg.de\/en\/events\/imaginal-worldmaking\/","title":{"rendered":"Imaginal Worldmaking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This three-day Studio deploys collective imagination as a method for exploring alternative and inclusive narratives that respond to ongoing global crises. Amid closure of political, cultural and social spaces and intersectional oppressions of multiple communities, the project invites both researchers and artists to craft collective interventions of the future of world ordering by dialectically confronting (1) global discourse about the decline of \u2018liberal international order\u2019 and (2) positions and practices of decolonial worldmaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project asks: How can we think inclusive global political and social structures without reinvigorating traditional approaches rooted in Western canons of liberal world ordering? How can we craft alternative narratives and practices that respond to the ongoing global intersectional processes of closures, exclusions, and divisions associated with, and exacerbated by, the transformation of liberal worldmaking? How can academic, artists, and practitioners move beyond diagnosing the failures and pathologies global political institutions and structures toward developing joined strategies for forging pathways of solidarity and reconciliation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We take Ruha Benjamin\u2019s work on collective imagination as a common point of departure for thinking practices and processes of worldmaking that envision concepts and narratives beyond prevailing academic approaches. The studio leads with the principle of unlearning, rooted in decolonial thought and praxis, and unfolds over three dimensions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Internal \u2013 A generative workshop space for participants to offer \u201cimpulses\u201d\u2014semi-structured interventions ranging from talks and conversations to performances, screenings, or demonstrations\u2014responding to our shared motif of imagination amid closure. These interventions form a collaborative and curated archive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 External \u2013 Public-facing engagement with institutions and communities in the host city to test and express emergent ideas in new media or formats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Assembly \u2013 A final convening to shape the Studio\u2019s outputs, from publications to installations, podcasts, or future collaborations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organizers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kavi Joseph Abraham<\/a>, theorist of race and the international order, Durham University
Dennis R. Schmidt<\/a>, scholar of human diversity and world ordering, Durham University and Joachim Herz Fellow 2024-2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants<\/h2>\n\n\n\n