The School of Enough
How to disconnect the idea of advancement and progress from that of growth, and to (re)connect our collective desires with the idea of limits? How to transform the image of doing and producing less into a positive one, an ideal worth striving for? How can “enough” become a synonym for “beautiful”? Rational and scientific arguments alone are unlikely to succeed at it; figures don’t make a culture. A more integrated approach is needed in which strategies for building up political power and the courage to oppose effective resistance go hand in hand with speaking to the sensual, aesthetic, poetic and spiritual dimensions of life. By speaking to the senses, by crafting new imaginaries and desires, artistic practices have an essential role to play in this battle for hearts and minds. The question is how to best put them to work.
The School of Enough is a 2 year programme that fosters collaborations between activist and artistic practices around the multiple social, political, environmental and cultural challenges of a post-growth transformation of our lifestyles. The programme explores this field of thinking and practice collectively through a process of co-learning and mutual support.
The following four collectives were selected among 30 applicants to a Europe-wide call for projects. Starting in November 2024, and for a duration of 2 years, participants to the School of Enough will develop locally rooted projects contributing to the emergence of post-growth alternatives in their respective contexts and struggles:
Angelo Mai /Merende /Industria Indipendente /Barikamà/Sara Alberani (IT)
In the context of Rome, an alliance has been formed between various agricultural, cultural and activist collectives (Angelo Mai/Merende/Industria Indipendente, Barikamà, Sara Alberani), who intertwine their agendas on the ground to propose an urgent process based on sustainable agricultural practices, degrowth, the protection of territories and cultural spaces through activism, social and artistic commitment. Based on these values, the project for the School of Enough extends from the fields cultivated by the Barikamà cooperative, to the activist spaces of the Angelo Mai kitchen, and spreads to the context of Merende, through the solidarity network built by curator Sara Alberani. The rooting of a practice related to food and environmental sustainability in a queer, transformative and convivial context like Merende – as well as in a symbolic place like Angelo Mai – is fundamental to the creation of new political imaginaries, in order to disseminate new practices of consumption and food production, to nourish a stratified community.
MediCina Valley (HU) — New Rituals
The MediCina Valley and its neighborhood are experimenting with how to create a voluntarily simple, close-to-nature lifestyle and a cooperative community, sharing related experiences. In our joint work with Klára Cserne, we are developing playful rituals that can strengthen the local community, offer deeper connections with visitors, and suggest new ways for collaboration between communities and art professionals.
The Friendship Art Education Foundation & Ditte Berkeley (PL)
The Friendship Art Education Foundation (Wrocław, Poland), in collaboration with Ditte Berkeley, is deeply committed to addressing the urgent need to tackle the crisis of teenagers’ health and well-being due to post-COVID effects, climate catastrophe, and the overuse of technology in our lives. Rooted in the values of our flagship project, Lelenfant—an international initiative for artists and culture practitioners under 16—we emphasize friendship, collaboration, peer learning, and artistic expression. We aim to establish a teenage program focusing on young adults over 14, proposing a daily basis program to help them reconnect with themselves and nature through collaboration, creativity, effort, critical thinking, and innovative approaches.
Valentine Paley & Margaux Schwab (CH) — /frîa/
Valentine Paley (dancer and choreographer) and Margaux Schwab (cultural producer and curator), both based in Vevey (Switzerland), share a common interest in art, activism, food and transdisciplinary practices. With the project /frîa/, their aim is to make Vevey the first town in the world to ban strawberries in winter, the ultimate symbol of the disconnect between the reality of regional agriculture and respect for planetary limits. The project addresses the question of symbols and the construction of our desires generated by false narratives of modernity and infinite growth.
conception & coordination: Christophe Meierhans
curation: Guro Stugu, Alexander Graham Roberts, Christophe meierhans
executive production: Rosendal Teater, Trondheim, Norway
production: The Big Green, Pro-Progressione
The Big Green & The School of Enough are funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
(image: Teresa Sdralevitch)
(image: Teresa Sdralevitch)