ten (The Emergence Network) is a fugitive, underground network of social artists seeking to create new openings to age-old problems. We aim to disrupt dominant modes of perception, engagement, and responsiveness in a time of crisis by disturbing modern notions of justice, power, and human agency. This is the work of postactivism, a concept developed by ten’s visionary founder, Báyò Akómoláfé. We do this work by instigating collaborative, creative processes in trans-local interventions as a cultural practice. 

Our shared vision is a political emancipatory project of interdependent networks and ecologies of practice interested in shifting our ontological gaze beyond the staid confines of justice and inclusion. By engaging in deep inquiry, conversations, and experimental processes, we aim to nurture an underground movement at the end of hope…

The provocative ideas and worldviews offered by ten over the past eight years have inspired people to think and behave differently when it comes to modernity, activism, de-centering the human, and our entanglement with other agencies & places of power. Now is the time to animate these ideas through local and trans-local experiments and to deepen our understanding of postactivism by grounding it in ongoing praxis and (un)learning. This global community of practice will come alive through online connections, a vibrant and diverse membership platform, trans-local experiments, semi-autonomous pods, and gatherings, courses and festivals.

In order to create the conditions for such a vibrant, emergent community, ten needs to nurture a complex underground ecology. Essential to this system will be a core operations team, serving as microbes to coordinate different parts of the system and manage day-to-day administration and decision-making that supports the needs of the whole. ten also needs to change the topsoil layer of our system, the place where we interface with the wider world. We are eager to create clarity and coherence about who we are so that we can be a sanctuary for the people who need us. 

We want to develop a clearer means of engagement for our community; to welcome people into our underground, kindle participation and co-creation in a way that feels inviting and energizing. In order to do this, we are planning a full rebranding process that clarifies ten’s position & identity, and supports the maturation of the ten organism. Crucial to the re-branding is an overhaul of the organization’s website, including the words, visual language, and semiotics we use to describe ourselves. Our new website will help map and expand the landscape for postactvism…