Commons-based Approaches

HowlRound defines commons-based approaches as practices that promote relationality, cooperation, horizontal and decentralized decision-making and networks, bottom-up activity, and peer-to-peer sharing of infrastructure, material goods, knowledge, and ideas. Content in this section directly addresses practices of commoning from around the field. Dive in with essays on the promise of the commons, the birth of a climate commons, and how a commons becomes a selection committee.

The Latest

The Future Is Now: Conversations with Leyli Gafarova and Elena Ishchenko

Podcast

The Future Is Now: Conversations with Leyli Gafarova and Elena Ishchenko

by Simon Dove

11 November 2021

Power in Theatre Coalition Building

Video

Power in Theatre Coalition Building

Featuring Real Alanis, Lyndsay Burch, CJ Ochoco, Leo Grierson, and Jaz Hall. Moderated by Whitney Reed

Wednesday 20 October 2021

United States

Conversation: Freedom Talk at House of Memory

Video

Conversation: Freedom Talk at House of Memory

A conversation on the importance of oral storytelling in indigenous societies

Friday 29 October 2021

India

The Future Is Now: Conversations with Leyli Gafarova and Elena Ishchenko

Simon

Dove

Podcast

The Future Is Now: Conversations with Leyli Gafarova and Elena Ishchenko

11 November 2021

In these episodes of The Future Is Now, two CEC Artslink Future Fellows—Azerbaijan-based filmmaker Leyli Gafarova and Russian art curator and researcher Elena Ischenko—discuss their vision for the future of arts practice.

Conversation: Freedom Talk at House of Memory

Gothenburg Book Fair

Video

Conversation: Freedom Talk at House of Memory

A conversation on the importance of oral storytelling in indigenous societies

Friday 29 October 2021

India

Safe Havens Freedom Talks presented a conversation in collaboration with Gothenburg Book Fair livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 29 October 2021.

Theatre Coalition Building panel poster.

Power in Theatre Coalition Building

In The Margin

The Juvenilia Collective

Breaking Wave Theatre Company

B Street Theatre

WOMB, the creation space

Urban Jazz Dance Company

Video

Power in Theatre Coalition Building

Featuring Real Alanis, Lyndsay Burch, CJ Ochoco, Leo Grierson, and Jaz Hall. Moderated by Whitney Reed

Wednesday 20 October 2021

United States

Power in Theatre Coalition Building focuses on the strength of theatres, art organizations, individuals and artists alike sharing resources, responsibility, goals, decisions, and leadership to work toward a common goal. In this discussion we listen from partners of In the Margin on strategies of coalition building moving forward in American Theatre. Livestreaming Wednesday 20 October 2021 at 3 p.m. HST (Honolulu, UTC -10) / 5 p.m. AKDT (Juneau, UTC -8) / 6 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles, UTC -7) / 7 p.m. MDT (Albuquerque, UTC -6) / 8 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 9 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

Study into Action calendar listing of the five episodes.

Art.coop Study-into-Action (ASL and Live Captions)

Art.Coop

Video

Art.coop Study-into-Action (ASL and Live Captions)

Artists Need the Solidarity Economy and the Solidarity Economy Needs Artists

Fridays 3 September to 1 October 2021

Global

Art.coop invited you to study-into-action with us on five Fridays this fall. Our aim is to connect cultural innovators across silos who do not know one another well, but are building the cultural economy we want. We need to socialize, study, and dream together before we can take collective action. Artists need the solidarity economy, and the solidarity economy needs artists! Livestreaming on the commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Fridays from 3 September to 1 October 2021 at 9 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 11 a.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 17:00 BST (London, UTC +1) / 18:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2).

There's Nothing General About General Admission

Yura

Sapi

Podcast

There's Nothing General About General Admission

With Rose Kim of Art Rat Theatre School

22 September 2021

Yura Sapi speaks with Rose Kim, founder and producing director of Art Rat Theatre. Art Rat Theatre is a production vehicle dedicated to gardening anticolonial, anti-capitalist theatre for a truly diverse new era audience and catalyzing a greater network of independent institutionally marginalized, young adult creatives.

Transforming Organizational Structures

Yura

Sapi

Podcast

Transforming Organizational Structures

With Eric Lockley of The Movement Theatre Company

15 September 2021

Yura Sapi speaks with Eric Lockley, co-founder of the Movement Theatre Company. Lockley is a member of the company’s producing artistic leadership team, who work together to create an artistic social movement by developing and producing new works by artists of color. Their work engages audiences in a rich theatrical dialogue, enlightens communities to the important issues affecting our world, and empowers artists to celebrate the many sides of their unique voice.

A grey-colored person looking off to the left with colorful flowers bursting from their head.

The Realm of the Senses: Theatrical World-Building for Social Activation

Aly

Perry

Essay

The Realm of the Senses: Theatrical World-Building for Social Activation

26 August 2021

In this entry of Devising Our Future, Aly Perry asks, “How might we position and design theatre as an essential space for healing, pleasure, and connection through an intertwining and interdependent realm of the senses?

Person climbing towards a director's chair

Instead of a Vision: Listening and Dialogue as the Work of a Theatre Director

Charlie

Peters

Essay

Instead of a Vision: Listening and Dialogue as the Work of a Theatre Director

23 August 2021

Charlie Peters asks, “What if the role of a director was conceived primarily as one of listening rather than visioning?”

Unrehearsed Futures

Embodied Poetics

Drama School Mumbai

CTDPS, Cape Town

Video

Unrehearsed Futures

Episode #19: Collaborative Theatre-Making and/as Participatory Justice

Thursday 12 August 2021

South Africa

Unrehearsed Futures Episode #19: Collaborative Theatre-Making and/as Participatory Justice livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 12 August 2021.

Unrehearsed Futures

Embodied Poetics

CTDPS, Cape Town

Drama School Mumbai

Video

Unrehearsed Futures

Episode #18: We Have Been Here Before

Thursday 5 August 2021

South Africa

Unrehearsed Futures Episode #18: We Have Been Here Before livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 5 August 2021 at 5 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 10 a.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 11 a.m. SAST (Cape Town, UTC +2).

A woman in a white dress with short hair dancing with an ensemble of other women and men behind her.

Open Channels: The Journey Begins/Canales Abiertos: La jornada comienza

Essay

Open Channels: The Journey Begins/Canales Abiertos: La jornada comienza

29 July 2021

Fátima De La Caridad Patterson Patterson, Mathew Schwarzman, and Carolina Caballero share their experience of creating Open Channels, an event where artists from thirteen countries gathered digitally to talk about Caribbean popular theatre.

Fátima De La Caridad Patterson Patterson, Mathew Schwarzman, y Carolina Caballero comparten sus experiencias creando Open Channels (Canales Abiertos), un evento donde artistas de trece países compartieron digitalmente para hablar del Teatro Popular Caribeño.

headshots of artists and panelists from the howlround for india event.

Livestreaming a Marathon: A HowlRound for India

Segal

Center

Video

Livestreaming a Marathon: A HowlRound for India

A 24-hour marathon of Covid-19 talks with the global theatre community

Tuesday 20 July to Wednesday 21 July

India

The Martin E. Segal Theater Center presents A HowlRound for India: a 24-hour marathon of Covid-19 talks with the global theatre community livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Tuesday 20 July to Wednesday 21 July at 6 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 9 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 13:00 UTC / 2 p.m. BST (UTC +1) / 6:30 p.m. BST (Bengaluru, UTC +5:30).

A woman holding a syringe and examining it.

Transcending Theatre: My Time with Robbie McCauley

Tara Brooke

Watkins

Essay

Transcending Theatre: My Time with Robbie McCauley

20 July 2021

Tara Brooke Watkins reflects on the legacy of Robbie McCauley, who challenged the status quo of theatre systems, from the classroom to the rehearsal room to productions.

event poster for Open Channels—a Caribbean Theatre Workshop from Santiago de Cuba & New Orleans Canales Abiertos—un Taller de Teatro Popular del Caribe desde Santiago de Cuba y Nueva Orleans.

Open Channels / Canales Abiertos 2021

Cuban Institute, Tulane

Estudio Macubá

The Stone Center for Latin American Studies

The New Orleans Center for the Gulf South of Tulane University

Video

Open Channels / Canales Abiertos 2021

A Caribbean Theatre Workshop from Santiago de Cuba & New Orleans / Canales Abiertos—un Taller de Teatro Popular del Caribe desde Santiago de Cuba y Nueva Orleans

Thursday 8 July 2021

Cuba

The Stone Center for Latin American Studies and The Cuban and Caribbean Studies Institute and The New Orleans Center for the Gulf South of Tulane University (New Orleans, LA), and Estudio Teatral Macubá presented Open Channels livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 8 July 2021 at 10 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 9 a.m. CDT (New Orleans, UTC -5) / 7 a.m. PDT (Los Angeles, UTC -7).

Unrehearsed Futures

Embodied Poetics

Drama School Mumbai

CTDPS, Cape Town

Video

Unrehearsed Futures

Episode 13: Theatre for their Communities

Thursday 1 July 2021

Bengaluru, Karnataka

Unrehearsed Futures: Theatre for their Communities livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 30 June 2021 at 8 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 11 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / Thursday 1 July 2021 at 4 a.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 5 a.m. SAST (Cape Town, UTC +2).

An illustration of a woman in a green dress holding a stick up to a circular light above. She is surrounded by plenty of these lights, each connected by lines.

Commonplaces

Matthew

Glassman

Essay

Commonplaces

Notes on a Future That Has Already Happened

28 June 2021

Matthew Glassman shares his commonplace—a collection of quotes, poems, reflections, dreams, doodles, images, and more, and a portal to reach forward to our future selves and for our future selves to reach back to us.

Introducing Jacqueline Flores, Our New Latinx Theatre Commons Producer!

Essay

Introducing Jacqueline Flores, Our New Latinx Theatre Commons Producer!

9 June 2021

Join us in welcoming Jacqueline, our new Latinx Theatre Commons Producer!

Left: Three actors in black with two of them sitting on the ground and looking down. The actor in the center looks up and sits on a higher level. Right: Three actors standing side-by-side.

When Arts Presenters and Creative Independent Producers Come Together

International Presenting Commons

(IPC)

Essay

When Arts Presenters and Creative Independent Producers Come Together

3 June 2021

The International Presenting Commons shares a statement on how and why arts presenters and creative independent producers have come together to sustain and evolve a commitment to international cultural exchange and engagement.

blue and yellow map of the southern states with text virtual roots weekend.

Alternate ROOTS’ 2021 Virtual ROOTS Weekend

Alternate Roots

Video

Alternate ROOTS’ 2021 Virtual ROOTS Weekend

Southern Soil: Collective Learning in Harmony with the Land

Friday 14 May to Sunday 16 May 2021

United States

Alternate ROOTS presented its first-ever Virtual ROOTS Weekend livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 14 May 2021 to Sunday 16 May 2021.

portraits of Lucien Zayan and Raja Feather Kelly.

SEGAL TALKS with Lucien Zayan and Raja Feather Kelly (NYC)

Segal

Center

Video

SEGAL TALKS with Lucien Zayan and Raja Feather Kelly (NYC)

Join us for a conversation about curating, producing and presenting theatre and performance in the Time of Corona

Thursday 6 May 2021

United States

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presented SEGAL TALKS with Lucien Zayan and Raja Feather Kelly (NYC) livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 6 May 2021 at 9 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 11 a.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

An illustration of multiple hands assembling a broken art piece.

Reimagining Public Theatres as Collectively Organized Cultural Institutions

Zenkő

Bogdán

Essay

Reimagining Public Theatres as Collectively Organized Cultural Institutions

28 April 2021

Zenkő Bogdán believes public cultural institutions should be redefined from the perspective of the people around it: it’s artists, employees, and audiences. As an exercise, she has begun to reimagine a future public theatre’s rules of organizing and functioning—and wants each and every reader of the document to participate.

The author, Chris Mayers (left), and Rachel Nicks (right) in a hospital scene for the play WAR.

Art at Work

Chris

Myers

Essay

Art at Work

Class Consciousness and the Transformation of the World

20 April 2021

Chris Myers talks about the importance of class politics and makes a case for why artists ought to reckon with it, both as creative people and just plain workers.

Red Eye Theater's seven artistic directors.

Collective Leadership

Essay

Collective Leadership

A Conversation with Red Eye’s Artistic Directors

1 April 2021

The co–artistic directors of Red Eye Theater in Minneapolis talk about shifting to a collaborate leadership model with a horizontal structure and consensus-based process, backdooring their way into traditional funding structures and resources, and more.

Livestreaming a Performance: OUT Dance Project Virtual Tour

Beyond Boom and Bust

Video

Livestreaming a Performance: OUT Dance Project Virtual Tour

Connecting rural queers across regions in Oregon through story and dance

Thursday 25 March to Sunday 28 March 2021

United States

Beyond Boom and Bust presents OUT Dance Project Virtual Tour livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Thursday 25 March to Sunday 28 March 2021.