collaboratory with ART 485 Fall 2023
We are developing a creative facilitation workshop we call "Water Councils."
They are based on a number of foundations:
The basic question for discussion is this: What would happen if we take the time to better understand how water itself would want to be represented? What might be the concerns of water? How would this impact the concerns of humans? In small "pools," from the point of view of water, discuss your shared concerns about the state of your waters.
PROCESS: Before the discussion, participants were asked to choose a water body on Oʻahu and begin to learn about its rains, its mo'ololo, its development history, hydrology,and its important environmental impacts. During the council meetings, participants made drawings of their water bodies, with a quote from their waters. We connected these together as we shared our findings, understanding that the issues connected all water bodies . Afterwards participants were invited to contribute a creative writing project that addressed some of these issues from the water's point of view.
They are based on a number of foundations:
- The ‘aha kiole, people’s councils across Hawai‘i, who examine problems across eight resource realms in Hawai‘i and implement solutions that honor the wisdom of ancestors, address the needs of the present, and establish abundance for future generations. (See Malia Akutagawa and Winston Wong, A Framework for ʻAha Moku System and Collaborative Governance" ahamoku.org)
- Recognizing the personhood and rights of water.
- The “Council of All Beings” designed by ecologists Joanna Macy and John Seed who practice creating better connections and relations with the greater community of beings and forces with whom we share this planet.
- Carolina Caycedo’s Atarraya and One Body of Water collective performances.
The basic question for discussion is this: What would happen if we take the time to better understand how water itself would want to be represented? What might be the concerns of water? How would this impact the concerns of humans? In small "pools," from the point of view of water, discuss your shared concerns about the state of your waters.
PROCESS: Before the discussion, participants were asked to choose a water body on Oʻahu and begin to learn about its rains, its mo'ololo, its development history, hydrology,and its important environmental impacts. During the council meetings, participants made drawings of their water bodies, with a quote from their waters. We connected these together as we shared our findings, understanding that the issues connected all water bodies . Afterwards participants were invited to contribute a creative writing project that addressed some of these issues from the water's point of view.