Embodied Resourcing in Times of Unraveling

How can we cultivate agency—and a cumulative, collective approach—in the times we are living through? This 90-minute session invites participants into an exploration of somatics as a tool for grounding, sense-making, and cultural change. Drawing from their work as an embodiment social designer, Camille Sapara Barton will share practices and perspectives that connect body-based awareness with socially engaged art making. Through a combination of gentle somatic exercises, guided reflection, and open conversation, the session offers space to arrive, to anchor, and to think together. Participation in embodied practices is optional throughout. Together, we will explore questions such as: — What an ancestral (& decolonial) approach to somatics looks like in contrast to the version presented by white, wellness culture?

— How can we use somatics to cultivate agency and begin to build collective power in the times we are living in?

— What does it look like to cross pollinate our culture change prototypes with people involved more directly in organising and policy making, in order to create coalitions that allow our intentions to spread and evolve? — What becomes possible when we connect artistic practice with organising and policy-making—allowing ideas to move, scale, and evolve across contexts?

This is an invitation to consider how we resource ourselves—and each other—while navigating uncertainty and transformation.

Open question for the session: Where is the space to bring this together?