Welcome to the end of the world as we know it. All around us, there are signs that our whole way of living is passing into history.
UNCIVILISATION is a training camp for the unknown world ahead. It's also a festival of music and writing, thinking and doing, a chance to meet people whose ideas and stories and ways of looking at the world which can help us navigate what is likely to be a challenging and unpredictable future.
Like the Dark Mountain Project itself, this festival starts with two questions:
If we stop pretending that this way of living can be made 'sustainable', where does that leave us?
And, if part of the problem is the stories our societies have been telling for generations, where do we find new stories by which to make sense of our place in the world?
Over the weekend of 28-30th May 2010, we’ll be exploring those questions with well-known radical voices like Jay Griffiths, George Monbiot and Alastair McIntosh, poets like Mario Petrucci and Melanie Challenger, and a new generation of artists, thinkers and doers - as well as some of the best bands, songwriters and performers in Britain today.
But our aim is to do more than put on a good show. We want to bring together a network of people who are on a similar journey, exploring the territory beyond the end of the world as we know it, knowing that this does not mean the end of the world full stop.
We hope this weekend will lead to conversations, collaborations, new projects, ideas and stories which last long after we’ve all headed home. We're looking forward to sharing it with you.
Llangollen Photograph : Kim Price
The Dark Mountain Project
It started with a manifesto: a call for a new cultural movement for an age of global disruption. That sparked a conversation which spread across magazines, newspapers and the internet. Now we're drawing that conversation together for a weekend in Wales. Visit the Project's website.
Pre-festival events
12th May, London: Pre-festival meetup with Viv Goodings, Paul Kingsnorth and music from Bleak. 6.30-9.30pm at the Centre for Creative Collaboration in Kings Cross. More details...
22nd May, London: The Dark Market at Brixton Village. Live music, uncivilised theatre, discussions and workshops from 11am-6pm at the old Granville Arcade.
24th-28th May, Llangollen: Dark Mountain Camp! A five-day, self-organised gathering for those who want to dig deeper into ideas and practical skills for an uncertain future. Add your own sessions to the DM Camp wiki.
Festival Programme [PDF]
Festival timetable [PDF]
UNCIVILISATION takes place in the Royal International Pavilion in the town of Llangollen, Denbighshire, over the weekend of Friday 28th to Sunday 30th May. View a map | Buy tickets.
The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilisation
