Every year, 24 young people take on the challenge of imagining the future together, across borders, away from preconceived ideas and cherished beliefs. Inspired by the work of Belgian artist Koen Vanmechelen and the environment of his 24hectare park LABIOMISTA, they think out new perspectives and ideas. Their sounding board: a transdisciplinary group of renowned artists and scientists and an inspiring Pythia. Together, they build the library of the future.
Artist Koen Vanmechelen launched the knowledge experiment in 2021, with the corona crisis as the immediate cause. The set-up; bringing together young thinkers to try to think the Unthinkable. Like the legendary Mouseion in ancient Greece, LaMouseion is also a place where art and science come together, in a quest for knowledge and wisdom. Together with the Belgian universities VUB and ULB, the first trajectory ‘Chapter Freedom’ worked specifically around the idea of freedom. Chapter Movement and Generosity followed in 2022 and 2023.
In July 2024, new partners joined the project; NOVA University of Lisbon – School of Social Sciences and Humanities (NOVA FCSH), the Vienna Master of Arts in Applied Human Rights of dieAngewandte and Philoxenia. The fourth chapter focused on the idea of ‘Future Garden’, inspired by the new landmark at LABIOMISTA. Future Garden is an ecological complex and laboratory for the future. The building has a mastaba-like structure and houses a pair of tapirs—an endangered species symbolizing diversity, fertility, and adaptation—along with a studio and a research laboratory. It embodies Koen Vanmechelen's belief in the important role science, art and commmunities play in guiding man toward a new Cosmopolitan Renaissance. Vanmechelen: “As we struggle with ourselves and our environment, a potential revolution is germinating in our gardens - the cradle of our future.” The Pythia of this edition is social entrepreneur Chido Govera from Zimbabwe.
This edition brought together young people from 10 countries in the EU, South America, Asia and Africa. They came from diverse directions, disciplines and social contexts. The project is built up out of different sessions; it started with an ideation phase in smaller groups, afterwards the participants came together for the inspiration, cross-fertilisation and co-creation session. They consolidated and translated their new insights and knowledge into various media and communication forms. The co-creation session ended with a vernissage in which participants presented and tested their (new) knowledge, ideas, creations and projects to the Unthinkable Experiment alumni, neighborhood partners and a network of friends and family. In this final stage, the ideas of the Vernissage travel with the students to different locations, where they will be discussed and discovered again. Two sessions will take place; one in Lisbon in collaboration with NOVA FCSH and one in Vienna, in collaboration with the Vienna Masters in Applied Human Rights - The University of Applied Arts Vienna and Angewandte Performance Laboratory - APL.
