Improvising Futures

Recent international crises –including the COVID-19 pandemic, racialized violence, and ecological disasters spurred by climate change– have demonstrated the role of spontaneity as a mode of resistance and improvisation as a vital tool of collective response. In the current moment, individuals and communities must adapt to unprecedented situations, build new ways of communicating with and relating to one another, and, in the words of activist Arundhati Roy, "imagine [the] world anew." Through real-time creative decision-making, risk-taking, and collaboration--central tenets of improvisation--we can respond to this call to action, interrogate unquestioned assumptions, engage new ontologies, and operationalize potential solutions to pressing contemporary global challenges.

The team at International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI) has spent the last 15 years investigating improvisation not simply as an artistic form, but, more urgently, as a complex social phenomenon that mediates transcultural inter-artistic exchanges to produce new conceptions of identity, community, history, and the body. This uniquely positions IICSI to respond to the social, political, and ecological threats we face.

This proposal seeks to internationalize and "conduct" the field of Critical Studies in Improvisation through an expanding interdisciplinary lens. This means inviting more cultural perspectives into the conversation, expanding the scope and depth of our research, and putting knowledge into practice through collaborative community initiatives.

Our 4 new research streams will investigate improvisation in relation to storytelling, public space, decolonization, and wellbeing. We will apply arts-based research to diverse disciplines and a wide range of projects across 20+ cities and 10+ countries to study how improvisational practices can ultimately develop more inclusive, cooperative, and sustainable futures. The objectives of this project include:

• 1) new understandings about dominant cultural narratives, along with insights from practical programs that allow aggrieved communities to tell their own stories in their own ways;
• 2) research into how situations requiring improvisation from divergent individuals and groups may facilitate a meaningful, active community;
• 3) investigations into Indigenous models and ways of knowing, considering their relevance to pressing social issues in Canada and around the world, including increasing social isolation and ongoing abuse of the planet; and
• 4) community-oriented arts programs that foster a sense of trust and belonging amongst participants, providing the opportunity for ongoing research.

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