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The Future Commons

The Future Commons

Curated by Cecilia Casabona

The Future Commons delves into the definition, manifestation, and proliferation of the Commons, examining the processes that facilitate their preservation and flourishing. Our intention is far from confining the Commons within a universal definition, as exemplified by the United Nations’ concept of “global commons,” which has often been exploited for capitalization and commodification under the guise of protection.

Instead, we aim to explore and address a fundamental question: how do we prevent the objectification of the Commons, particularly within the art world, where they risk being instrumentalized within the same market logic they seek to transcend? To tackle this challenge, it is crucial to articulate the characteristics, conditions, space, time, processes, and goals that define the Commons. These processes are inherently situational and calls for community engagement. The community is urged to establish itself through a qualitative dimension of being-in-common, defined by the quality of their relationships, collaborations, and shared responsibilities.

The five-year program focuses on articulating processes and activities that foster co-creation and coexistence among artists, institutions, and locality where they operate. These activities, marked as -ing, are always ongoing and in the making as they express acts of living: dreaming, working, loving, learning, and healing. Retracing these activities underscores their role in shaping common goods and values and guiding how we care for them and for one another. 

Image: ‘Abysmal Knitwear Eleganza’ by Émilien Neu

About Cecilia Casabona

Cecilia Casabona (she/her) is an independent curator based in Rotterdam with a master’s degree from the Critical Inquiry Lab at Design Academy Eindhoven. Her work centers on collective thinking strategies and collaborative actions, with a keen focus on productivity in the neoliberal West—both within and beyond the human sphere. Notable past projects include “The Body is a Movement,” a collaboration with Baltan Laboratories (2023).

Exhibitions

Onomatopee / Exhibition and public program / Apr 6 - Jun 21, 2024

Dreams of dreams of dreams

An exhibition and public program which explores the transformative power of imagination when fuelled by a collective resolve to dismantle the status quo

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Publications

Onomatopee 256

Dreams

of dreams of dreams
Cecilia Casabona, Natasha Rijkhoff eds.

€ 15

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Activities

April Friday 5, 2024, 19:00 - 22:00 / Opening

Opening exhibition 'Dreams of dreams of dreams'

@ Onomatopee Lucas Gasselstraat 2a 5613 LB Eindhoven The Netherlands

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April Saturday 6, 2024, 13:00 - 16:00 / Workshop

Workshop by Matilde Patuelli 'Unreliable Narrators – ricocheting rêverie'

@ Onomatopee Lucas Gasselstraat 2a 5613 LB Eindhoven The Netherlands

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May Saturday 11, 2024, 10:00 - 18:00 / Workshop

Workshop by Matilde Patuelli & Gaia D’Arrigo 'Dreamweaving the Grotesque'

@ Onomatopee Lucas Gasselstraat 2a 5613 LB Eindhoven The Netherlands

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May Friday 24, 2024, 20:00 - 18:00 / Performance

Performance by Mala Kline 'DREAM HOSTEL'

@ Onomatopee Lucas Gasselstraat 2a 5613 LB Eindhoven The Netherlands

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June Saturday 8, 2024, 15:00 - 19:00 / Performance

Participatory performance by Fede Fantini 'Horizontal Kitchen'

@ Lucas Gasselstraat 2a 5613 LB Eindhoven The Netherlands

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June Friday 21, 2024, 19:00 - 22:00 / Book launch, Finissage

Finissage and book launch 'Dreams of dreams of dreams'

@ Onomatopee Lucas Gasselstraat 2a 5613 LB Eindhoven The Netherlands

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