Our Utopia Labs are ‘no-spaces’, places where everyone is welcome to join us in dreaming futures that inspire our experience of the present.

The term utopia was coined from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island society in the Atlantic Ocean.

The word comes from Greek: οὐ (“not”) and τόποσ (“place”) and means “no-place”, and strictly describes any non-existent society ‘described in considerable detail’.[i]

Following on from a 1.5 day Utopia Lab design session in which Dr Jimmy Turner and Francesca Vale will have shared their visions of a utopia in which everyone has an equal but individual seat at the table, visitors to this exhibition will be invited to explore the responses that Utopia Lab participants have created in the form of chair designs and models that offer comfort and community to people of all descriptions and abilities. Guests will be invited to consider how the chairs interact with one another and what they represent for the world or worlds they inhabit. We will also consider what utopia means and how it could be a useful crucible in which to explore positive change. This is a drop in event, please feel free to come when suits and to stay as long as you wish.

Light refreshments will be provided.

Utopia is a ‘no-space’ for contemplation, innovation and collaboration. Our labs curate interactions between academics, artists, entrepreneurs, students and audiences in person and online globally. We are interested in that which is provocative and irreverent as well as that which is nurturing and joyful. Utopia questions are catalysts for inquiry, learning and creativity. With an emphasis on innovative and experimental ways of communicating, we will explore meditation, dialogue and co-creation with the help of a facilitator. Participants consist of University staff and students, and non-University practitioners.

Website: https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/utopialab/utopia-lab-2023/

Register here