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The Contemporary 2　Who interprets the world?

pUN General Assembly

2015.12.5(Sat) - 2015.12.6(Sun)

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Information

Period:

2015.12.5(Sat) - 2015.12.6(Sun)
5 (Sat.) 10:00-16:15, 6 (Sun.) 10:00-16:30

Venue:

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
Gallery 11


application close:
Sunday, 22 November

Capacity：

Please note that admission capacity for each country is 3 participants. The participants will be decided by lottery if the number of applicants reaches the limit.

For More Information：

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
Phone: +81-76-220-2800
Facsimile: +81-76-220-2802
E-Mail: info@kanazawa21.jp

About

Mexican artist Pedro Reyes’s project: pUN General Assembly (December 5-6, 2015) is an experimental gathering of volunteer citizen-delegates from as many of the participants and observer states of People's United Nations (pUN) as possible. Unlike the real United Nations, where delegates are appointed by states and are career diplomats, the people’s UN enlists regular citizens who live in the local area and are connected by family ties or by birth to the nations represented at the UN. Participants engaged in activities in the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa that test Reyes’s hypothesis that conflict-resolution techniques used in social psychology, theater, and art can help solve the world’s most challenging problems, from climate change to food shortages. Over the course of two days, this group used theater games, group therapy, and techniques from social science to grapple with a set of urgent and sometimes unexpected proposals. Playfulness, humor, and experimentation are strategies that allow for creative solutions and imagining a better future.

pUN General Assembly movie

Please click here for jumping to Japanese page

Application Requirements

  • *18 years of age or older
    *All activities are operated in English only.
    *Required all day or both days.
    *Consent agreement as volunteers

Application form

  • ・Please fill your name and nationality in the Notes. Without these information, we cannot accept your application.
    ・Please take responsibility for all expenses related to pUN General Assembly.
    *The result of the lottery will be informed until 26th November.

    Application form

Program

  • Saturday, 5 December
    10:00-10:30AM　Registration
    10:30-11:15AM　Introduction & Warm-Up
    11:15-12:15AM　pUN Times
    [topic] Share with your group in less than one minute a fact about country that you find shameful. Make sure people understand the problem but do not dwell on it. Get feedback from each teammate on the wildest, yet most plausible positive solution to this problem.

    12:15AM-12:30PM　Blessing of the Bees
    [topic] Honey bees remain the most economically valuable pollinators for crop monocultures worldwide. Yields of certain fruit, seed and nut crops decrease by more than 90% without these highly efficient pollinators. Although honey bee hives have globally increased close to 45% during the last 50 years, sharp declines have been reported in several locations.

    12:45-2:00PM　Lunch Break
    2:15-4:15PM　Speed Dating
    [topic] This is an opportunity to have a conversation, one-on-one, with another delegate. The conversation will be guided by your curiosity and will lead to a simple human encounter. You will have a total of four encounters, each one lasting approximately 20 minutes.

    Sunday, 6 December
    10:00-10:30AM　Registration
    10:30-10:45AM　Warm-Up
    10:45AM-12:45PM　Force Field Analysis
    [topic] Groups of eight are divided into two opposing teams of four. You may play the role of a “helping” or a “hindering force, so regardless of your personal beliefs, you will either think of ways to support the proposed change or play the devil’s advocate, coming up with reasons the change shouldn’t happen.

    12:45-1:00PM　Group Photo
    1:00-1:15PM　Blessing of the Bees
    1:30-2:30PM　Lunch
    2:45-3:45PM　Panglossian Spontaneity
    [topic] Take the microphone and tell the rest of the group a word or short sentence in your own language. Explain its meaning and how to pronounce it. Keep it short since there are many languages.

    3:45-4:45PM　Ghost of Garcia Robles
    [topic] If you come across the ghost of García Robles and you believe that there should be a worldwide ban on nuclear weapons, are you going to sign his petition?

Profile

  • Pedro Reyes

    Born in 1972 in Mexico City, Mexico and resides there. Studied architecture. Employs sculpture, built structures, and projects to explore international relations, environmental issues, and other wide-ranging social problems. Has participated in solo and international exhibitions around the world. In recent years, has drawn attention with such works as Disarm (2013), which turns guns into musical instruments, and The People’s United Nations (pUN) (2013), taking the United Nations as a motif.

Credit

Organized by：
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (Kanazawa Art Promotion and Development Foundation)