Time as finite… Time as an illusion… Time as eternal recurrence.

A multi-sensorial, philosophical dinner, hosted in collaboration with the Circulo de Bellas Artes around the theme of TIME—how we perceive time, find meaning in time, and manipulate time to create and celebrate beauty.

How do the principles of sustainability apply within us, in our internal ecosystem?

Corporate offsite experience for 60 executives working in the area of sustainabilty. This was a one-day event integrating a nature-walk underpinned by the philosophical provocations of Cervantes’ Don Quijote. This guided conversation facilitated an exchange of ideas around how the inner working of our human systems connect with our wider ecosystem. Participants were also asked to engage in a collective artistic activity designed to be fun, enhance the group’s collective imagination and provide a sense of unity among participants.

Two biologists (Pilar Lacasta & Miguel Anton) also collaborated on project, bringing relevant insights about the local ecology.

AMYGDALA DILEMA: An Artistic Reflection on the Economics of Fear

For this workshop we used an abstract painting exercise as an instrument for conceptual sense-making to create deeper levels of interdisciplinary inquiry into the subject of fear and facilitate collaboration between dissimilar groups, fostering an appreciation for diverse and pluralistic points of view.

As the war in Ukraine unfolds, global uncertainty has surged. But uncertainty is a nebulous concept. It reflects uncertainty in the minds of consumers, managers, and policymakers about future events (that may or may not happen). It is also a broad concept relating to macro phenomena like GDP growth and micro phenomena like the growth rate of firms, elections, wars, and climate change. 

Psychology and neuroscience tell us that uncertainty instantly arouses our fight-or-flight reaction. It fires up our amygdala. Our survival brain will do almost anything for the sake of certainty because we are hardwired to overestimate threats and underestimate our ability to handle them. But recent research in the field of neuro-economics is providing evidence that not all amygdalae are created equal, and as a consequence, some of us respond more cooperatively and manage our fear by taking a longer view on risk, whilst others respond more individualistically and seek short term remedies to attend to economic anxieties. 

Benefits for participants:

• improved visual literacy and confidence around how to integrate art into one’s own research

• cultivation of creativity through cross pollination of ideas, observation, active listening, and experimentation

• access to collective intelligence and shared meaning

• a deeper understanding of the impact fear has on individual choice/decision-making and how this connects to the broader socio-environmental-economic paradigm.

Created a collective drawing exercise based on Aspen’s curated literature on sustainability in order to deepen our personal inquiry into what sustainability means to us as individuals.

Inter-disciplinary abstract art workshop focused on how we might learn to reconcile our capacity to see the world not only in part, but in whole. Philosophical underpinnings are based on the work of philosopher/neuroscientist, Iain McGilchrist, and applied to the current global urban condition, specifically drawing upon ideas by Niel Brenner, Joyce Hsiang and Bimal Mendis. A combination of discussion and painting exercises will flesh out ideas on how we might re-conceptualise our global population into one seamless landscape: What if the Entire World Lived in One City?

Today the world is facing intertwined challenges of food, water and energy security, coupled with climate change, desertification and shrinking forests. Within a few decades' time, we can expect the planet to become more crowded, resources more precious, and innovative urban planners increasingly important.

By midcentury, the global population will likely top nine billion, and more than half of us will live in cities. What will these cities look like? Will we have the resources to power them and comfortably provide for their residents? Will global urbanisation harmonise with efforts to curb climate change and secure a sustainable future?

We can approach cities through a narrow focus on an individual building or a neighborhood or one particular metropolis or expand the investigation to consider the whole global system of cities and their interconnectedness, with each-other and within what is traditionally considered rural. What's more, we can think about cities as built environments, social networks, modified ecologies, economic systems and political entities.

INSET ART WEEK AT LENA GARDENS PRIMARY SCHOOL

Collective painting exercise around the theme of IDENTITY. What makes me special? What is my super-power? How can I be more myself and not worry about trying to be someone else?

During an assembly I shared an African mythological story of the Baobab Tree, which is the story of a tree that wasn’t quite comfortable in his own skin. We broke up into small groups and discussed what it means to have an identity and what it feels like when we sense that we've somehow lost part/all of that identity. We then finger painted a large collective painting—nursery and reception children painted the leaves and each year group had a tree. The text on the painting was inspired by the children.

The lines that spiral round my hallowed soul

my imprint, a gift to share with the world.

I am the story of the mighty BAOBAB 

among the first to appear on the land.

Held tight between roots and branches,

I am whole --

undeterred by the Fig tree or the Palm.

And so it is with each year passing

beautiful blossoms I sprout.

Growing braver  in my Being

and in my Becoming.

I shall forever bend

            and forever reach, towards the sky.

Philosophical inset day organised in collaboration with Big Change Charity and Lavender Home at Lena Gardens primary school to discuss what the concept of big change means for students.

Philosophical Supper Club. Ticketed Event, open to the public. Are we Human BEINGS or human DOINGS?

Guided-conversation with a group of 50 women around the paradox of being vs doing in our everyday lives.

Hosted by Hubdot at The Imperial Restaurant (Private Dining Room) 577 Kings Road, London, SW6 2EH

What happens after a Public-Private-Paternership is terminated?

Ticketed Event: Open to those attending The World Water Forum

There are many well-known cases of public-private partnership contracts (PPPs) for water supply that have been terminated early.  These cases are visible across the world from the  ‘water wars’ in Bolivia to the lengthy arbitration case in west Manila and have been widely publicised. But what has happened since the termination?  

In this workshop I will present and discuss detailed case studies of PPP terminations from industrialised and developing countries to start to address these questions and to draw out lessons relevant for future policy design.

The event is organised by Olivia Jenson, from the Institute of Water Policy.

An evening of open exploration into the relationship we have with ourselves in relation to society. What is it that calls us into the wild? What are the forces that pull us back from wild? Co-hosted with Olivia Everist @ Cafe Kino, Bristol

Philosophical guided conversation over supper with a group of 80 women about what we might learn from Epicurus. Ticketed Event, open to the public.

There are three mistakes identified by Epicurus about the way we think about happiness.

1. We think having romantic sexual relationships brings us happiness but we actually find more happiness through platonic friendships; 2. We think that we need money but when we consider the sacrifices to getting this money, what actually makes us happy is feeling we are making/have made a difference; 3. Beneath a love of luxury, what we really crave is a sense of calm.

Epicurus not only wanted to understand the world, he also wanted to transform it.

Hosted by Hubdot at The Imperial Restaurant (Private Dining Room) 577 Kings Road, London, SW6 2EH

‘The Story of the Universe: Our Story’,

An educational enrichment day for 400 children at St James Junior School where children will explore the history of the universe from the big bang to present day and their perspectives on their place within it. Teachers at St James will provide a creative blend of lessons using art, creative writing, mathematics and dance.

Our team is led by former Imperial College PhD in cosmology Dagny Yousuf-Kimberly and includes: Professor Jonathan Halliwell from the Theoretical Physics at Imperial College, Geraldine Cox, artist in residence at Imperial College, and myself. 

Thank you to the team at Global Generation, Kings Cross, who warmly hosted, facilitated and inspired us at our project planning event.

Ticketed event, open to the public. 

A night rich in philosophical inquiry around the topic of LOVE: Eros, Philia & Agape

Hosted BY Hubdot at Case Study Coffee 802 Southwest 10th Avenue Portland, OR

Ticketed Event, open to the public.

Philosophical guided conversation over supper with a group of 60 women on the topic of LOVE.

What is love? What are the types of love we experience? Is love innate? Are we all born with the capacity for love? An exploration of Eros, Philia & Agape

Hosted by Hubdot, Luxenbourg

Philosophical lunch-club focused on Free Will - freedom to choose, freedom to act and moral responsibility. Private event. Museums Quartier, Vienna

Private Booking.

Conversations with children (while painting nebulas) about our expanding universe. The idea is to give children a sense of connectedness by making them realise that nothing in our universe is separate. That we are all part of one whole.  

-           that we are made up of atoms/particles

-           that atoms/particles don’t act separately, they act together

-           that the waves within these particles send out vibrations

-           that we are woven into a web of vibrating energies

-           that within this web, information is being exchanged

-          that we are responsible for our own vibrations

-          that these vibrations are our way of connecting to the earth

Math enrichment day at St James Prep created in partnership with Dagny Yousuf, former Imperial College PhD in cosmology and Professor Jonathan Halliwell from the Theoretical Physics at Imperial College.

Math enrichment day at St James Prep created in partnership with Dagny Yousuf, former Imperial College PhD in cosmology.

Ticketed Event, open to the public.

Philosophical guided conversation over supper with a group of 30 women on the topic of LOVE.

What is love? What are the types of love we experience? Is love innate? Are we all born with the capacity for love? AN exploration of Eros, Philia & Agape

Hosted by Hubdot at The Grove; 83 Hammersmith Grove, London W6 0NQ

Math enrichment day at St James Prep, London. Course created in partnership with Physicist and Cosmologist Dr. Dagny Yousuf.

Math enrichment day at St James Prep created in partnership with Dagny Yousuf, former Imperial College PhD in cosmology.

Math enrichment day at St James Prep, London. Course created in partnership with Physicist and Cosmologist Dr. Dagny Yousuf.