Meet at the Crossroads
[ten artifacts]
Meet at the Crossroads was launched as a gifting circle and mycelial network of research inquiry into the postactivist implications of responsibility in our turbulent world; it was a fugitive series of monthly online gatherings hosted by Aerin Dunford and Báyò Akómoláfé and produced by Yeyo Beltrán in 2020 and 2021.
Meet at the Crossroads Project Description
Meet at the Crossroads [ten artifacts] Meet at the Crossroads was launched as a gifting circle and mycelial network of research inquiry into the postactivist implications of responsibility in our turbulent world; it was a fugitive series of monthly online gatherings...
Guest Hosts
Meet at the Crossroads [ten artifacts] Meet at the Crossroads was launched as a gifting circle and mycelial network of research inquiry into the postactivist implications of responsibility in our turbulent world; it was a fugitive series of monthly online gatherings...
Meet at the Crossroads: Fugitivity Through Stillness
Meet at the Crossroads [ten artifacts] Meet at the Crossroads was launched as a gifting circle and mycelial network of research inquiry into the postactivist implications of responsibility in our turbulent world; it was a fugitive series of monthly online gatherings...
Meet at the Crossroads: A Final Note from Aerin, Báyò and Yeyo
Meet at the Crossroads [ten artifacts] Meet at the Crossroads was launched as a gifting circle and mycelial network of research inquiry into the postactivist implications of responsibility in our turbulent world; it was a fugitive series of monthly online gatherings...
artifact
Intention
The intention of Meet at the Crossroads – a series of fugitive online conversations over six months with interesting people in ten’s orbit – was to cultivate a stronger donor base and build out our network of supporters (both economically and relationally). We were starting to feel into what it would be like to have a community of makers, artists and social innovators in one space exploring concepts and practices of postactivism and fugitivity. We also just thought it would be fun to invite some of our friends to come together and meet up with people who had become interested in Báyò’s and ten’s work through the Wilds Beyond Climate Justice and We Will Dance with Mountains in 2020.
artifact
Memories
The guest-hosts were all very dynamic and engaging – it was an eclectic and engaging collection of people with a wide range of life experiences and worldviews. The sessions were fugitive: we did not record or download the chats or transcripts so there was no trace of “what actually happened.” We did ask people to engage in a practice following the sessions of making art or sending us letters or photos. There was no set “cost” to participate in the series, even though it was a fundraising effort. We just invited people to donate what they could at the end of each session. It wasn’t very successful financially, but we deepened some sweet relationships and the hosting of the sessions flowed easily between Báyò, Aerin and Yeyo.
artifact
Essence
The essence that remains of Meet at the Crossroads is a faint whisper… a memory of something that may have happened in the middle of a global pandemic in some nondescript zoom room out the back. There is still the impression on the retina of those black-and-white woodcut images from the now-no-longer website and, somewhere, a folder full of handwritten letters and drawings that people offered up on the altar of fugitivity. Yes, the trace of Meet at the Crossroads is thin and ephemeral, just as any fleeting, under-the-radar, meeting at the crossing of trails might be.
artifact
Arisings
One arising was the opportunity to deepen relationships with the participants over a slightly longer period of time. Meet at the Crossroads was one of the longest “programs” that ten has hosted so far. Before this, it was a weeklong festival or event, a three-month course or a one-time happening. We did cultivate some sustained donors as well. Some of the people who participated in Meet at the Crossroads continue, to this day, to be monthly supporters of The Emergence Network. In some cases, the experiment gave us an opportunity to deepen and solidify our relationships with the guest-hosts that we may not have known so well before. Throughout the six sessions, we were able to virtually experience and explore tangible and artistic practices together: from making chai in our kitchens together, to touring a farm on recuperated land outside of Johannesburg, South Africa, to moving our bodies. Together, we were able to feel how these are all distinct expressions of postactivism.