Home |Research & Publications|Prospections | Tactical Solidarities
Collective Economies, Alternative Flows

Presenting a Lecture by Fran Ilich

Author(s)
Fran Ilich

From: Trainings for the Not-Yet, an exhibition as a series of trainings for a future of being together otherwise, convened with a multitude of collaborators by Jeanne van Heeswijk and BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht (2019–2020)

The work of media artist, activist, and writer Fran Ilich focuses on the creation of collective wealth and alternative financial flows, and inventing unorthodox ways to fund and maintain social infrastructures. His practice draws on ancient modes of exchange, and uses narrative and creative devices to forge organizational models that transform capitalist systems into solidarity platforms. Rather than reject existing financial tools and capitalist mechanisms, such as banks, bonds, hedge funds, and capital accumulation, he shuffles them around in such a way that they instead can foster community building enterprises and non-vertical economies.

In this lecture, held in the context of BAK’s recent multi-part program, Trainings For the Not-Yet (14 September 2019–12 January 2020), the artist introduces fascinating examples of experimental solidarity economies born through his collaborative work, and delves into their potential as practices against dispossession and as generators of radical uses of value. Describing how the work first was generated in response to the colonial implications of capitalist economic systems in Mexico, Ilich then outlines the birth and development of several of his projects, from Telenovelas as a medium for counter histories, to the Spacebank, a new kind of bank based on trust and collective labor, to the Diego de la Vega Coffee Coop, a collaboration between Zapatista communities in Mexico and service industry laborers in New York City.

More in this edition
psp.17.360_f_203153438_6tvdeub2nw9k0pubp6gak7tjsikllori.webp
18 May 2021
In solidarity with the Palestinian decolonization struggle and decolonization efforts everywhere

BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht stands in solidarity with the Palestinian decolonization struggle and with decolonization efforts everywhere.

psp.16.screenshot_20240404_123533.webp
14 December 2020
Practicing Tactical Solidarities II

This locally-focused second edition of Practicing Tactical Solidarities: A Roundtable on Mutual Aid, Emergency, and Continuous Care took place on 16 December 2020. It featured artists, organizers, and activists working in Utrecht, many of whom were at that time BAK Fellows.

psp.14.screenshot_20240404_123623.webp
30 July 2020
Solidarity with La Colonie

La Colonie opened its doors on rue La Fayette, Paris on 17 October 2016 as a radically open space of discussion and exchange for diverse cultural and political communities.

2 July 2020
In Proximity: Wendelien van Oldenborgh

For this first session of "In Proximity," an ongoing series featured on Prospections, BAK’s Curator of Public Practice Rachael Rakes enters into a conversation with artist and BAK 2017/2018 Fellow Wendelien van Oldenborgh.

psp.6.schermopname201.webp
29 May 2020
Practicing Tactical Solidarities

A videorecording of the online event Practicing Tactical Solidarities: A Roundtable on Mutual Aid, Emergency, and Continuous Care, livestreamed via Prospections on Wednesday 29 April 2020, 19–21 hrs.

psp.5.foto2straatsignalering.webp
28 April 2020
Supports, Strikes, and Student Revolt: On Housing Struggles in the Netherlands

Interviewed and introduced by Irene Calabuch Mirón and Sanne Karssenberg (BAK, basis voor actuele kunst).

16 April 2020
Collective Economies, Alternative Flows

From: Trainings for the Not-Yet, an exhibition as a series of trainings for a future of being together otherwise, convened with a multitude of collaborators by Jeanne van Heeswijk and BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht (2019–2020)

psp.3.statelessdemocracycover.webp
16 April 2020
On Solidarity Without the State:

From: New World Academy, an alternative learning platform for art and politics established by Jonas Staal and BAK, basis voor actuele kunst (2013–2016).

psp.4.feminismandthepoliticsofthecommons.webp
15 April 2020
Feminism and the Politics of the Commons

From FORMER WEST: Art and the Contemporary After 1989, Maria Hlavajova and Simon Sheikh, eds. (Utrecht: BAK, basis voor actuele kunst and Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2016), pp. 379-390.