anthropologist and activist David Graeber. How can we build the international infrastructure of solidarity and care in the face of impending climate and political collapse?
Focused on exploring climate change in connection with social and political structures, the discussions and workshops will aim to reimagine technology, social relationships, political economy, and the production of essential human needs—such as food, energy, medicine, shelter, and education.
Building on David’s idea of technology as an expression of social relations, the DGI will discuss with invited speakers and international participants plans for the Museum of Care in St Vincent and the Survival Kit Collection, David Graeber’s archive, and the development of the Visual Assembly as a Playground project. We will also be joined by Yanis Varoufakis and Michael Hudson for a discussion on debt and its implications for Global South–North relations, facilitated by Ann Pettifor.
This gathering will lay the groundwork for the DGI conference that will take place October 5–10 in St Vincent.
APRIL 10
On April 10, the DGI team will facilitate a hybrid roundtable discussion with presenters online and at the University of West Indies in Kingstown. This session will focus on the climate crisis and collective resistance. We will talk about the development of the Museum of Care in St Vincent, the ongoing work on David Graeber’s archive (and how it can be implemented into future programming at the Museum of Care in St Vincent), as well as the tools and strategies of pedagogies of care, open-source climate resilient architecture, and much more. We will be joined by Andris Brinkmanis, Nika Dubrovsky, Vera Mey, Alastair Parvin, Philippe Pirotte and Clive Russell. Everyone is welcome to join this session on Zoom!
In the evening, we will follow up on the culinary workshop with an experimental dinner to explore how spirulina can be combined with local ingredients to create a variety of healthy, nutritious, and delicious dishes that can be grown and enjoyed at home by anyone. We will post the menu on the DGI website and in the dedicated DGI Culinary Collection room at the Museum of Care. This dinner will be part of a larger open-source food project that the DGI aims to develop as part of the Museum of Care and the Survival Kit collection.
APRIL 11
On April 11, the DGI team will visit the St Vincent and the Grenadines prison to continue building our collaboration on open-source technologies workshops for inmates. We will have presentations from:
— Adrian Bowyer, engineer, founder of the RepRap project — a talk on self-replicating 3D printers and the future of 3D printing;
— Igor Tylman, engineer and designer, founder of Tylman Design — an introduction to PET recycling and welding;
— Javier Rodriguez Ruiz, engineer, founder of PETciclo — a practical workshop on PET recycling from plastic waste;
— Ruslan Gevorgiz, marine biologist — a talk on spirulina growing and production.
The team will also bring a spirulina growing kit to demonstrate how to cultivate spirulina and prepare for practical workshops in October.
This series of workshops will be the start of a larger long-term project aimed to introduce open-source technological solutions for food, energy, and object production. This project will develop in parallel and in close connection with the work on the Survival Kit Collection and Museum of Care.
APRIL 12–13
During the weekend, the team will go on different island tours and community meetings.
Joined by our friends and colleagues—the Carnival Development Corporation, SVG Community College, and art students who took part in the previous gathering in June 2024—we will discuss the future of Visual Assemblies and the Carnival project. We will discuss the preparations for the annual carnival in St Vincent in more detail with the cultural practitioners (organizers and local carnival bands) and local communities.
APRIL 14
On April 14, the University of West Indies will host the final public event of the gathering. Yanis Varoufakis and Michael Hudson will join us for a discussion on debt and its implications for Global South–North relations. Their conversation will be facilitated by Ann Pettifor.
The discussion will start at 12:00 PM St Vincent time / 5 PM London time and will be streamed online on the DGI Youtube channel. Please make sure to check the time in your local time zone!
During this session, the DGI team will also announce plans for next year.
