Fruits of Conviviality
Goldsmiths BA Curating class of 2023 is inviting you to our end of year show, "Fruits of Conviviality". Consisting of workshops, installations, and archival material investigating histories and modes of conviviality that oppose influences fuelling division in our contemporary landscape. The contemporary landscape that we inhabit is defined by feelings of imminent climate catastrophe, legacies of pandemic and turbulent governance. Growing inequality and social polarisation further fuels a growing atmosphere of division. These forces, among others, have exposed Western society’s reliance on political, social and technological systems that neither serve the community or the individual and are imposing a circumstance of isolation which is degenerating in every sense. The pursuit of an egalitarian society through a form of progress rooted in technological advancement is futile. We have borne the fruits of modernity and they are rotten. Taking inspiration from Ivan Illich, Fruits of Conviviality investigates histories and modes of conviviality through workshops, installations and archival material. The exhibition aims to demonstrate the powerful role connection plays in generating freedoms for both the personal and interpersonal: conviviality can and must be utilised as a form of resistance. Whether an end goal itself or to be employed as a process to achieve another outcome, conviviality is essential in combating the crisis of division. The exhibition is an exploration of the fruits of convivial practices, examining what these tools look like within various contexts and how communities organise to mobilise them. How communities have achieved greater freedoms by bestowing people with the ability to acquire and utilise skills with which they can live, shape according to their own tastes, and put to use in caring for and about others. Conviviality must not be understood as simply a friendly or cheerful environment; it is providing the individual with the ability to contribute to the majority with their own vision, generating authentic connection. In undertaking this project, we wish to enable a plurality of interactions to create a web, both within students and the wider community.