After lunch, Professor Krzysztof Meissner began the conversation with an overview of his work, considering how we might predict the future of humanity, looking through the cosmological time frame and the evolution of the universe.
He spoke of how, in a billion years, our sun will become too hot, and then in some 5 billion years we will stop to exist as a separate entity. He explained how the sun began with ¾ hydrogen and ¼ helium. There were no other elements – it was a simple universe with only these two elements. At its core the sun converted the hydrogen to helium, in this way creating energy. It has already burnt through a good deal of its fuel and when it starts to die, the sun will expand into a red giant star. Temperatures will heat up and the size of the sun will expand tremendously, right up to our earth orbit, then cooling shrink down again to a white dwarf. The good news for us is that this is another 5 billion years away. Eventually all the stars will be white dwarves or explode into a supernova. We, all of us, are made from the material expelled from a supernova exploding.
He spoke of the scientific observations of supernovae, of the search for traces of previous universes, and the investigation of black holes. Most black holes form from the remnants of a large star that dies in a supernova explosion. He noted that they are not actually black but grey, and their gravity is so strong they can pull nearby material into them and produce ripples in space-time called gravitational waves.
He explained how our galaxy, the Milky Way, is moving slowly towards the Andromeda galaxy and will one day be swallowed up in this collision. As scientists study these matters of huge cosmic scale, along incredible timelines, the dilemma is ‘What comes next?’ as they question what happened to the previous universe, and what may happen to the future one. At the beginning of a new universe, nothing is certain.
Natia Kalandarishvili spoke of her past work in public service and international relations, where the question often was ‘Is it better to concentrate on defence or the economy?’ Her experience told her that we had become fixed in certain disciplines, with institutions locked into certain mindsets, and we needed better communication and a willingness to cross disciplines. She was one of the founders of Tbilisi Architecture Biennial, with the aim to discuss architecture and urban issues in a new way. As with the scientific community, the question was ‘What’s next?’ and ‘How can we make a better place’. She noted there was an old Georgian expression, ‘Tomorrow knows better.’ She gave example of planning in Dublin which placed an emphasis on better place making in urban areas, to encourage more people to choose to walk, cycle or use public transport, and to improve the physical and psychological environment. She also made reference to the Interdependence movement – see, for example, ‘The Interdependence Handbook’ by Sonja Myers and Benjamin Barber.
Raphael Rogiński is a guitarist, composer and performer, improviser, cultural animator and researcher of musical folklore. He spoke of his fascination with many types of traditional musics and his dilemma was how is it possible to really work with all these differing styles. For his latest musical project, Talan, he had been exploring the Black Sea coastline its histories and mysteries. During the pandemic he also had explored his own family tree, even taking a DNA test, looking back into his own hidden Jewish ancestry and past generations. On his father’s side of the family, the dilemma then was simply how to survive. Raphael was born in Germany and lived there for the first seven years of his life, before returning to Poland. The house was always full of refugees of one kind or another. His grandmother was a Crimean Tatar mixed with Mari people, who made perfumes in Warsaw. Before he played guitar, he played an Uzbek kemenche, a three-stringed lyre, given to him by his grandmother.Growing up he knew Armenians, Chechens, Kosovans, Azeri people and he made music with them – one guy was even from Africa, another Afghanistan – so he developed an eclectic style, taking in all kinds of musical forms and instrumentation from many different places, acting as a medium for these cultures.
Weronika Czyżewska-Poncyljusz grew up with the work of Borderland around her, with both her parents involved from its very beginning. She explained how she was a member of the ‘Krasnogruda Army’, young people who were participating in the theatre and music work, who spent their summers at Krasnogruda Manor House before its renovation, when it was in a ruinous state, when there was even no water. They helped in the projects to give this place a new life, patching the leaking roof even, exploring the history and archeology of the building, having this great experience of sharing a dream and seeing this dream slowly come true, the renovation and revitalisation of Krasnogruda. Now there was a dream of a new programme, this mobile academy and to make new connections. She welcomed this opportunity to hear all these different voices and thoughts. Her dilemma was how to preserve this great energy, to keep dreaming and take palpable steps forward to make these new dreams a reality.
Keti Kantaria, an editor, translator and publisher, was one of the initiators of this first meeting in Ateni. She spoke about her experience of the war in Abkhazia.
‘For about two weeks at the beginning of the war we were in Gagra, everyone calling their relatives, trying to find out what was happening. Nothing seemed to be happening in Gagra, just the movements of different armies who you couldn’t tell apart. We were trying to guess who was who, it was a kind of game to us kids. I went and asked some soldiers, ‘Are you Georgians or Abkhazians?’ They told me not to repeat this question anymore, as it was a dangerous thing to do. Prices skyrocketed, each day changing. I was dreaming of the sea in different colours, green, red black, looking very angry. Our Abkhazian neighbours told us we should leave on one of the last ships. I didn’t want to leave, thinking nothing bad would happen, Abkhazian people won’t kill us, but my friend forced me to go. Later, all the Georgians who lived in our building were killed. We arrived in Tbilisi, not knowing what would happen next. We heard of the horrible things that happened and sometimes I feel guilty because there are so many tragic stories. Sometimes I hope we could go back to the beginning and make the end of the story light. As for my dilemma, when I think of past times, I would like to mend our relationship with Armenia, as I think we have common problems and we should be sister nations, as perhaps it was centuries ago.’
The evening session
Looking back on these personal exchanges between participants, Krzysztof Czyżewski asked what people thought of the possibility of creating these ‘small centres of the world’? As an organisation, Borderland are willing to look at the opportunities to help establish partnerships with funding bodies to help new initiatives. For example, to help capacity build some small institutions, with some staffing costs for projects, to establish new cultural work, encourage a new counter-culture, to examine alternative conflict resolution. He thought this would be a different direction to the counter-culture of the 1960s, not separate from society, but from within villages or districts or peripheries. The first level is to identify people who could participate and benefit from such an initiative; the second level would be to build a team, build competences, learn about fundraising; a third level would be deliver a series of mobile academies (this perhaps is something that could be an opportunity for post-doctoral students study). It was suggested that the centenary of Sergei Parajanov in 2024 might be an opportunity for some collaboration.
Andriy Lyubka said that when he visited Krasnogruda, coming from Warsaw, he realised it was possible to do something that is not in the capital but the forest. It inspired him in part to return to his home in Transcarpathia, a place which borders on four other countries. He thought that maybe it is his duty as a writer to help develop this region, and so founded an NGO. the the Institute for Central European Strategy. ‘At first,’ he said, ‘we thought of it as intellectual, to develop the Central European idea, but now we are rethinking this concept.’ They want people to think of this area not only a ski resort, or for mineral water and wine, but have a wider cultural meaning.’ There could be more practical activities, to reanimate this area, like participating in such a mobile academy.
Armen Ohanyan said this was a time for new beginnings. ‘Let’s see where this takes us. All we need is inspiration, and there has been a lack of inspiration.’
Krzysztof Meissner felt that, in the education sector, post-graduate students would be ideal candidates to involve in such initiatives; a mobile academy with two-week encounters could be very useful. He spoke about the example of the Responsible Leaders network, a programme of the BMW Foundation, which connected thousands of people, bringing them together to increase their social capital beyond their borders. Their network promoted responsible leadership, to work in an ethical value driven way to inspire new leaders worldwide to work towards a more peaceful, just and regenerative future.
Ondrej Liska spoke of a recent online platform launched with Community Arts Network, with support of Porticus, which aims to enable, engage, and empower people through arts, whether as individuals, organisations or communities. It aimed to be a tool beneficial to artists around the world, in terms of rebuilding communities, building trust. (https://www.community-arts.net/)
In summary, Krzysztof Czyżewski felt that there was sufficient interest from all the participants to be able to develop some practical proposals for future mobile academies. One participant thanked Borderland for organising this ‘agenda free but content rich meeting’, pointing out that he had attended many events which were usually the complete opposite.
Text and photos by Brendan Jackson
