Towards an Even Geography was a project run by myself and Rachel Walls as part of the public events programme at Nottingham Contemporary. In response to the Uneven Geographies exhibition, which sought to use art to make visible the effects of uneven development through neoliberalism, we commissioned a pamphlet containing five utopian responses- from local youth group Base 51, political theorist Sara Motta, the artist John Newling, Haydn Primary School and Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement.
The pamphlet was launched at an event held at Nottingham Contemporary on 1st July 2010, where I spoke about the role utopia can play in helping us move beyond our neoliberal present (which, I argued, utopian studies can help us understand). Participants were then encouraged to come up with their own utopian visions in response to the exhibition, the talk and the pamphlet. A lively debate was had and, I’m pleased to report, friendships were formed that have lasted until this day!
The project had its own blog here, but you can download the pamphlet (and the poster produced by the children from Haydn Primary School) below. The latter was inspired by a work of Oyvind Fahlstrom which was featured in Uneven Geographies.
