Episode 021
Temporary democracy in a cultural space
Contributors
Date
July 19, 2019
Tags: Ethereum, Helsinki, Kuusi Palaa, participation, self-management, Temporary
Commentary
In 2016 John Fail and Agnieszka Pokrywka began the first in a series of cultural experiments in Helsinki, Finland. They called it Temporary and they envisaged it as a space that would be managed and owned by the people using it. It lasted a year before they began the second phase, which the members named Kuusi Palaa. This lasted for one season.
Agnieszka talks with Owen Kelly about the ideas that fuelled the experiments, including the Ethereum-based currency – the Temp – that she and John developed to enable members to pledge support to other members’ productions. They also discuss the way Temporary approached publicity by avoiding all online social media and instead mailing printed newsletters in genuine envelopes to anyone who requested them.
Finally Agnieszka explains what they learned from the projects and how she would approach it if she ever decided to do it again.