Luma Days #5
Recompose: Roadmap for Possible Worlds
16th – 18th September 2021
Parc des Ateliers
In September 2021, Luma Arles will host a series of workshops, conferences, and public conversations within the framework of its perennial forum of art and ideas, Luma Days.
Under the title of Recompose: Roadmap for Possible Worlds, the 2021 edition of Luma Days will reflect on ways of mapping potential pathways among evolving realities. In-depth interdisciplinary discussions will focus on how to rethink, reinvent, and rearticulate the ways in which we share habitats, use resources and act together.
Questions of how to restart our society are multiplying generated by the instability of the past twelve months. However, what does it mean to relaunch the economic machine? Does it imply pursuing infinite growth in a finite world at all costs?
In this context, the notion of recomposition is to be conceived as an alternative to that of a relaunch. Thus, Luma Days invites artists, thinkers, scientists, and the public to discuss the concept of recomposition; to propose ideas about the future, and to create new narratives and new forms of exchange.
In this process of recomposition, what could be the tools to access resources in a sustainable manner? How do we recompose with new ideas, new goals, and new beliefs when all possible reference systems have changed dramatically? In a connected world, how do we redefine our responsibilities, whether ethical, social, or environmental, when it comes to ecological and socio-political questions?
Recomposition is a process of change. It can be an affirmative process when the decomposition of one element nourishes the enrichment of the other. At a moment of rupture of a fragile world, Luma Days through Recompose will encompass intersecting cultural horizons, forking paths and diachronic movement across seemingly incommensurable ways of living, to support the re-invention of expanded fields of inquiry.
Luma Days will be held in Arles between the 16th and 18th of September. The first day will be dedicated to workshops with sustainable and solidarity-based territorial development at the heart of their debate, while the next two days will have a more speculative character, focusing on the major issues of the moment. The fields of research and consideration are: Recompose, With What Resources? (day 1), Recompose the Transmission of Knowledge (day 2) and Recompose Plural Worlds (day 3).
Programme
RECOMPOSE, WITH WHICH RESOURCES?
Thursday 16th September 2021
Participants: invited experts and professionals
Format: workshops / conferences
What resources are available and will help to define the development of a sustainable territory? Here is the question which frames the debate on the first day of Luma Days devoted to local territorial development. The aim is to draw up an inventory of existing resources, whether material, financial, cultural, and human, considering a collective desire to enhance available local wealth and trying to balance between economic, ecological, and social imperatives.
In the morning, a series of salons will be hosted by experts who will share their knowledge of the various resources in small groups to encourage interaction.
The afternoon will be devoted to territorial development: viewing it based on its potential. The objective is to encourage creative exchanges between different sectors promoting the emergence of unexpected collaborations and innovative arrangements.
At the end of the day the public is invited to join the program. It will feature a collective review of the important points of the day, followed by a presentation of case studies, a conference and a round table, to tackle the pressing issue of extractivism.
Deliverables:
– Establishing synergies between existing sectors to create innovative projects
– Possible cooperation to enhance potential employment, development, and training
– Mapping a Sustainable Territory based on resources and knowledge-exchange
RECOMPOSE THE TRANSMISSION OF KNOWLEDGE
Friday 17th September 2021
Participants: general public
Format: conferences / round table
The definition and transmission of knowledge are mutating. How can knowledge be shared today, beyond classical pedagogical concerns, within the context of the generalization of distance education, the disruption of existing structures caused by the emergence of artificial intelligence or the development of continuing education throughout one’s professional life? Thus, recomposing the transmission of knowledge first requires rethinking within this new context. Discussions on horizontal rather than vertical transmission of knowledge continue to occupy an important part of the deliberations about pedagogy. However, how can such modes of transmission be reconciled with the reliability of information in the age of fake news?
Throughout the day, through the views of various speakers, whether teachers, botanists as well as artists, we will attempt to review what constitutes the fields of learning based on exchange and transmission.
RECOMPOSE PLURAL WORLDS
Saturday 18th September 2021
Participants: general public
Format: conferences / round table
Questions about how to inhabit the world today are becoming particularly pressing. These concerns lead to a set of considerations on ways of worldmaking, welcoming different concepts of the relationship between humans and their environment. To admit that there can be several worlds is to accept that our representations of one world can change, and that consequently possible actions within it can be modified accordingly. As Philippe Descola asserts, at the end of his anthropological research “we only see what we have learned to see”. This day will try to explore, through interventions by anthropologists, physicists, artists, and philosophers, multiple ways to construct these plural worlds.
About
WHAT IS LUMA DAYS?
Luma Days is a forum of Art and Ideas engaging a local and global conversation, through a cultural filter. It takes place twice a year: in May it kicks off Luma’s summer program with conferences, workshops, projections and performances for experts and the public. In December with Luma Eco Days it aims to launch challenging debates at the intersection of economy and ecology within a cultural framework. It simulates debate and creates unexpected connections that produce scenarios for possible worlds, within an artistic, philosophical, social, and environmental context.
As an open public education platform, attendees to Luma Days represent every level of society from farmers to social workers, from artists to scientists, from academics to economists. This rich audience mix makes it possible to take on issues of major concern through a wide-angle constellation view needed to make real change happen. Its inherent mission is to map out ideas about a community, a city and a region as a potential resource for creative ideas and collective intelligence.
Luma Days produces each year a Review of the content created before, during and after the forum.
Past speakers have included:
Etel Adnan, Sina Araghi, Armand Arnal, Michel Bauwens, Sevince Bayrak, Laurens Bekemans, Ali Benmakhlouf, Caroline Bernard, Anita Berrizbeitia, James Binning, Serge Binotto, Daniel Birnbaum, Jean Blaise, Jan Boelen, Lionel Bordeaux, Dan Borelli, Mohamed Bourouissa, Nicolas Bourriaud, Alexandre Cadain, Alain Caillé, Éric de Chassey, Ian Cheng, Maryse Condé, Ken De Cooman, Julien Creuzet, Bice Curiger, Béatrice Dalle, Anya Daly, Isabelle Delannoy, Farrokh Derakhshani, Virginie Despentes, Gabriele Dolff-Bonekämper, Elsa Dorlin, Laetitia Dosch, Julien Dossier, Emmanuel Druon, Pierre Ducrozet, Philippe Durance, Stéphane Durand, Tom Eccles, Olafur Eliasson, Tony Elieh, Roberto Flore, Teresa Galí-Izard, Lisa Garnier, Émilie Gascon, Dominique Gonzalez Foerster, Julien Grain, Jon Gray, Joseph Grima, Joe Halligan, Sandi Hilal, André Hoffmann, Maja Hoffmann, Hadeel Ibrahim, Uzodinma Iweala, Arthur Jafa, Jean Jalbert, Erling Kagge, Kiluanji Kia Henda, Séverine Kodjo-Grandvaux, Rem Koolhaas, Jakob Kudsk Steensen, Katell Le Goulven, Grégoire Loïs, Michael Lucken, Sophie Marinopoulos, Pierre-Alexandre Mateos, Han Meyer, Baptiste Morizot, Evgeny Morozov, Mohsen Mostafavi, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Vassilis Oikonomopoulos, Jorge Pardo, Philippe Parreno, Yuri Pattison, Magali Payen, Lisa Phillips, Bernard Picon, Paul B. Preciado, Paul Graham Raven, Rachel Rose, Christopher Roth, Youmna Saba, Anjalika Sagar, Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, Eric Schlosser, Bruno Schnebelin, Richard Sennett, Marianna Simnett, Bas Smets, Kavita Singh, Bernard Stiegler, Charles Teyssou, Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Romain Troublé, Sara Sadik, Marc-André Selosse, Françoise Sémiramoth, Saskia van Stein, Sophie Swaton, Pierre Wat, Renzo Wieder, Karen Wong, Philippe Zaouati, Estelle Zhong Mengual…
Luma Yearbook 2020
Relive the highlights of the year

Previous editions
Luma Days #4 – IN TRANSIT: a Geography of Change
This year the 4th edition of Luma Days offers a series of exceptional events broadcast on Luma Arles. A program of conferences, interviews, round tables and some live broadcasts enrich and nourish the theme of Luma Days #4 « In Transit: A Geography of Change ».
The concept of transition is inherent in a time of change and renewal, leading to the transformation of how we deal with the environment, technology, economy, education, health… It calls for a global reconstruction of our systems. It is not limited to a state of mind about the world, but it allows for action to build a more resilient society.
Speakers 2020
+ See all speakers

Psychologist and Psychoanalyst, specialising in issues relating to childhood and the family
Previous editions
Luma Days #3 – TOGETHER, a Declaration of Interdependence
22 – 25 May 2019
The theme explored for this new edition refers to one of the major challenges of our time: TOGETHER, a declaration of interdependence
Why do we discuss interdependence today?
The concept of interdependence appeared in 1944 with the writings of the American philosopher and historian Will Durant, author of the first Declaration of Interdependence, a manifesto that claims the principles of equality and freedom as vectors of harmony. Over time, the notions of ethics, environment, ecology, have nourished the topic and its scope, as interdependence is not limited to the relations of human to human but of the human in the world, by taking into account the direct impact of the human imprint on the environment.
While collaborative structures have existed throughout time, the early 21st century brought a growing desire for interdependence, and the establishment of more concrete actions in this respect. In a « post-work » world, our way of living together and working together will be challenged. How can we balance the new interdependence between man and machine? How do we deal with governance, responsibly, and legislative and regulatory environment where these questions can be explored and resolved?
Luma Days #3 examines interdependence as a tool to forge new links between Arts and Culture, Environment and Human Rights, Education and Research.
As part of Luma Days #3, the exhibition A School of Schools: Design as Learning is the exceptional setting of the discussions and public events on the theme of interdependence.
Luma Days #2 – HOSPITALITY: Searching for Common Ground
14 – 19 May 2018
The theme of this second edition is Hospitality: Searching for Common Ground.
While hospitality is a fundamental value of any culture, linked to the timeless and universal ideal of profound affiliation, today it seems to have lost its true meaning, until recently adopting a contrary resonance.
Our project at the Parc des Ateliers, an interdisciplinary platform that produces and hosts artistic and cultural activities, was conceived as a site for hospitality. This theme is also inherent in the design of the site’s park and garden. Hospitality is an individual act and a collective action, that of course goes beyond the limits of the Parc des Atelier and affects every citizen in Arles and the Camargue region.
Throughout the week, several themes follow and nourish the exchanges around hospitality, such as climate change, design, territorial resilience, heritage, culture, foreign, identity… The Luma Nights host shows, performances and DJ sets and make way for enchantment and celebration.
Podcasts
Hospitality: Anticolonial Approach
Hospitality: the Notion of Domination
Hospitality: A Philosophic Perspective
Hospitality in Perspective (FR)
Hospitality: Migrant Crisis (FR)
Hospitality: Openness to the Foreign (FR)
Luma Days #1 – Scenarios for a City in a Bioregion
14 – 19 May 2017
This first edition of Luma Days, entitled Scenarios for a City in a Bioregion, presents an annual event created and designed by Luma Arles.
Located at the intersection of art, design, technology, activism and ecology, Luma Days act as a mediator between local and global and draw credible and sustainable scenarios thanks to the implementation of creative and collaborative processes.
During this event, the research and production work carried out by Atelier Luma is shared with the public, as this laboratory aims to place Arles on the map of platforms for reflection and innovation.
This first edition is created in collaboration with Ideas City and the New Museum in New York.
The stage is set to explore scenarios for the city of Arles and its rural context. Bringing together international and local experts and influencers, the weeklong workshops reflects on the possibilities and opportunities of five future city scenarios: 1/City of Culture & Agriculture; 2/ City as Campus: 3/ 21st Century Factory Town; 4/ UNESCO City 3.0, and 5/The Global Village.
Luma Days Journals
Luma Days Review
Practical information
Contact





President of the P2P Foundation
A New World in Common
Chiang Mai (TH)
Through a conversation with Michel Bauwens – Belgian activist who has been working for years in the exploration of peer production, governance, and property – we will develop five different themes related to the current Covid-19 crisis as the “the great revealer and the great accelerator”. He will share with us his analysis on this uncertain period, giving us tools for an Economy that should serve the Common Good, based on contributions to create shared resources. He addresses issues relating to scale, to governance, to mediation, and how to build a better balanced long-term equilibrium.
Biography: Michel Bauwens is the founder and president of the P2P Foundation and works in collaboration with a global group of researchers in the exploration of peer production, governance, and property. Bauwens travels extensively giving workshops and lectures on P2P and the Commons as emergent paradigms and the opportunities they present to move towards a post-capitalist world. Michel is also research director of CommonsTransition.org. a platform for policy development aimed toward a society of the Commons and a founding member of the Commons Strategies Group, with Silke Helfrich and David Bollier, who have organised major global conferences on the commons and economics.
In conversation with:
Maria Finders, Luma Days Curator, Luma Arles
Jan Boelen, Artistic Director, Atelier Luma