Futures Thinking at the Jewish Museum Amsterdam

       with the Jewish Museum Amsterdam and Mushon Zer-Aviv

The installation Imagining Futures. The power of futures thinking in uncertain times at the Jewish Museum in Amsterdam explores how people, in times of crisis, can and dare to imagine different futures – and what that can mean for them. In this online session, the curators will give insight into their museological approaches and methodology and how this installation is embedded in And now?!, a larger programme on the impact of post-7 October world on Dutch society.

Imagining Futures presents several people who live in the Netherlands and have family in Israel, Gaza, or the West Bank. They took part in a ‘futures thinking’ workshop in Amsterdam led by Israeli designer and peace activist Mushon Zer-Aviv and Palestinian Dutch political scientist Dana Rentenaar. During the workshop, they imagined different futures: futures they hope for, and futures they fear. Their stories, the process they went through, and the tangible results from the workshop, are presented in the installation, both visually and audibly.

What changes in the world affect people’s lives? And how do they shape our ideas about the future? In the interactive part of Imagining Futures, we invite visitors to create their own ‘images from the future’ and add them to the installation. Visitors can do this with the instructions provided, with help from our staff members, or by taking part in a guided workshop.

Mushon Zer-Aviv developed his workshop shortly after the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas. Futures thinking, imagining various possible (and impossible) futures, can shift our perception of the present. It helps us make choices in the here and now and offers hope and inspiration for shaping our future.

Imagining Futures. The power of futures thinking in uncertain times is on show at the Jewish Museum in Amsterdam until January 11.