As part of an extended programme in partnership with Messe in St. Agnes during Berlin Art Week and Gallery Weekend Berlin, Therme Art presented the Wellbeing Culture Forum, Creating in Crisis – Systems of Creativity and Improvisation on 12 September.

COVID-19 has shown the incompatibility of certain cultural practices and modes of behaviour with continued human life. Now, we are thrust into unprecedented territory and find ourselves rebuilding on shifting grounds. Responding to crisis can often feel like a passive reaction. However, it can also be an active process that creates new transitory forms and (re)discovers ancient practices of action, hidden under the normative rules of art. What does it mean to design and create in the presence of uncertainty? How can we use that precariousness to our advantage?

In thinking about generative modes of production and collaboration, improvisation (re)appears as a viable methodology to lean on during our endeavours toward future building. The line between improvisation and chaos, however, is extraordinarily thin: the former denotes spontaneity and frugality, creating with what you have, while the latter implies a temporality of confusion and disorder. Though these phenomena may share some qualities within a relationship of permanent interactivity, they remain distinctive irrespective of these qualities. Improvisation, for one thing, tends to have systems or structures in place that can be abandoned at any time in favour of free space and play.

The late medieval physician Paracelsus described his art of healing (and alchemy) as “wandering in chaos”. This kind of art is rooted in constant interaction with and acceptance of spontaneous events. Similarly, improvisation spans all disciplines, from performance art to quantum physics, and functions on both micro- and macroscopic levels, from the symbiosis of single cell organisms to inter-species evolution. It signals intelligence, heightened communication, and adaptability. All of these are crucial to the survival of our species, our fellow nonhuman neighbours, and our planet.

Historically, city planning has taken a one-size-fits-all approach. However, we are now becoming increasingly aware of the harm and inefficiency of this outlook, especially considering the growing globalisation of our networks. Wellbeing comes from being in harmony not just with our internal landscape, but our external environments as well. No change can happen without taking all intrinsic cultural practices into account. Reaching this homeostasis requires listening, presence, and trust. How can we design cities that create pockets of space for this type of relationality? How can improvisation manifest in stable architectural structures, as well as the relationships these structures hold?

To ensure the viability of future life, large-scale cultural adaptation is now needed. Bringing together cultural producers, artists, architects, activists, and designers, this interdisciplinary session considered the role of culture in this widest possible sense, exploring the urgency in developing new cultural technologies and improvisatory practices in harmony with human and environmental health.

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