Feral MBA - Succession
Nov 1 - 29, 2020, 'Plymouth' and online.
Enquiries, contact fMBA@feraltrade.org
The Feral MBA is a radically re-imagined training course in business for artists and others. It responds to the towering failure of business as usual to rise to contemporary challenges. The focus of this uncommon business gathering is not on 'making it' in an extractive economy whose core assumptions of competition, productivity and endless growth are unarguably bankrupt. The aim instead is to arm ourselves with experimental skills and vital camaraderie to consider and produce alternatives.
This highly experimental pilot curriculum is open to participants from within the territorial boundaries of Cornwall and Devon. Its 4-week programme of activities will include monetary experiments, (feral) business coaching and other often neglected business staples such as how to sit well. We will start from a feminist theory of economy as 'surviving well together' and examine exemplary examples of alternative art-business practice. We will also and primarily open up own 'business' endeavours to mutual investigation and generative collusions, to think together on the quandaries of survival and livelihood and how these could be otherwise.
The nominal physical base for Feral MBA - Succession is 37 Looe St in Plymouth (former home of Plymouth Art Centre and current home of the Bureau for the Contemporary and Historic). However the programme will also strive to meld presence and telepresence, ready to move with difficult times and to welcome those disinclined or unable to travel. Time commitment will be approximately 3-4 hours per week. Beyond a few fixed dates - Sunday Nov 1 (evening), Sunday Nov29 (evening) - the course will take the form of serial small gatherings, so we will to an extent be able to work with individual scheduling needs.
Participant call:
We invite applications from artists and makers of diverse callings, artist-run organisations, small business operators and others working with or curious about radical and experimental 'business' methods. Individuals and small delegations are welcome to apply.
How to apply:
To attend the course you will be expected to Bring your own Business: this might be in any form from established endeavour to a prospect, scheme or dream. Please send a maximum of one A4 page summarising your own business/practice and your interest in the Feral MBA programme, template here. Email your application to: fMBA@feraltrade.org by Sept 30th 2020 (midnight).
Finance statement:
Questions of revenue, sustenance and livelihood lie at the heart of the Feral MBA project. The programme in Plymouth is not in direct receipt of funding but stands as a DIY experiment in mutual resourcing, infrastructure negotiation and relationship-building. In order to secure a place, successful applicants will be asked to commit a £50 deposit upfront. The remaining programme 'budget' (what we might spend collectively over the duration of the program) will be determined subject to the resources and decisions of the group. This experiment in ouijic project management will form the opening act of the Feral MBA.
Artist statement:
The Feral MBA is an endeavour by trade artist and feral economist Kate Rich. Grassroots assistance in Plymouth provided by food-activist and curiously-hungry nomad Carmen Wong. Feral MBA - Succession is designed and delivered as part of Kate's PhD research at the University of the West of England. Participant feedback will be sought and incorporated in future runs of the Feral MBA programme.
Sponsors:
This programme is diversely supported and resourced by: 37 Looe Street, CAMP, BuTCH, 3D3, DCRC, Bristol Co-operative Gym, Feral Trade, Waldies School for the Ceramic Arts and others.
Contact:
