FoAM is a network of transdisciplinary labs for speculative culture. It is inhabited by people with diverse skills and interests - from arts, science, technology, entrepreneurship, cooking, design and gardening. It is a generalists’ community of practice working at the interstices of contrasting disciplines and worldviews.
Guided by our motto "grow your own worlds", we study and prototype possible futures, while remaining firmly rooted in cultural traditions. We speculate about the future by modelling it as artistic experiments that allow alternative perspectives to emerge. By conducting these experiments in the public sphere, we invite conversations and participation of people from diverse walks of life. Amidst rampant consumerism, xenophobia and climate chaos, FoAM is a haven for people who are unafraid to ask the question: “What If?” Instead of disregarding possible futures because of their improbability, we speculate: What if we see plants as organisational principles for human society? What if lack of fossil fuels turns jet-setting artists into slow cultural pilgrims? What if market capitalism collapsed? By rehearsing for a range of different scenarios, we can cultivate behaviours that make us more resilient to whatever the future holds. This is why we encourage FoAM's activities to explore the breadth of themes and methods - from robotics to permaculture, tinkering to meditation. Layered as long-term initiatives and short term projects, FoAM's activities uphold the values of complexity and whole systems thinking, pollinated by the transdisciplinarity of our teams.