Abstract

The seminar is an introduction to the Art For Futures Lab, and the Erasmus+ cooperative partnership project GEM (Green Education in Media). Prof. Angelica Böhm from the Film University Babelsberg, together with Prof. Adnan Hadziselimovic from the University of Malta, report on the 2023 workshop which was deliberately held in accommodation in the middle of nature.

The method of the Art For Futures Lab was used there. Angelica Böhm is co-founder of this artistic research project. Films about futures are usually dystopias. But what about the world we would want to live in? Scenes for futures are developed on the basis of a scenographically designed online play area. In the co-creation workshops, knowledge about innovations is offered dramaturgically. The methods were modified from World-Building, Design-Thinking, Re-Gnosis and Future Prototyping.

Speaker’s Profile

Prof. Angelica Böhm works as a scenographer for cinema, TV and theatre in national and international productions. She is a member of the German Film Academy. Since 2013 she has been a professor of scenography at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf. Over two decades Angelica worked in the film industry and was responsible for the production design for movies dealing with various themes of human life. She gained popularity with the Doctor Proctor – a serial by the Norwegian author Jo Nesbo. Besides her attraction to the magic tools of movie-making, the work with film teams has proved that co-creation is powerful. The ping-pong of ideas of diverse talents results in innovation and unexpected creativity, and can be seen as much more than the simple summary of efforts.

In 2013 she got the chance for taking on the professorship for Production Design at Film University Babelsberg. From that time on she could be a role model for her students to create all that can be envisioned. She got into the topic water protection and began to initiate her often awarded collaboration project “Transmedia Storytelling: Camilla Plastic Ocean Plan (CPOP)” based on the fact of garbage patches. During 7 years, more than 300 students, alumni and professionals from different parts of the world have become involved in events such as international exhibitions consisting of paintings, concept arts, sculptures, VR-experience, 360° films, and a masterclass in 2019 supported by DAAD.

In 2020 Angelica Boehm and Nicole Loeser (IFAI Berlin) joined forces and founded the Art For Futures Lab at the Film University Babelsberg to invite people for interdisciplinary collaboration to envision positive futures and to co-create solutions.