Both Re-Connect and TFA believe immersive experiences can bring people together in long-lasting ways. Yet, these need a guided structure, attentive mediation and care. The Island Lab seeked to explore new ways of togetherness and presence, bringing back the value of non-verbal exchanges, and allowing space for spending casual time with each other. Nature as an element that intertwines us all play a key role during the whole stay.  

Bringing together a harmonious yet effervescent constellation of people also plays a key role in the design of immersive experiences.  

The Festival Labs are conceived as upskilling opportunities for Alumni of The Festival Academy's previous programs. This is not only a way to serve the community that TFA has built up over the last 17 years, but also ensures that participants are already familiar with TFA’s methodologies and ethos, and thereby facilitating a more productive lab environment. In a first step of the selection, TFA put an emphasis on reaching out to partners of the project “Festivals as catalysts for social change”. In a second step, further possible participants (festival managers, artists, inspirational thinkers from other sectors) were contacted directly and briefed about the overarching project and Lab. This process took place in an individual manner and was coordinated by Inge Ceustermans and the TFA team, following an in-depth examination of certain criteria. The team of The Festival Academy has an in-depth knowledge of the profiles of their Alumni community which helped identifying suitable people. The challenge of the process was to put together a group that would allow everyone to benefit and contribute best with their unique abilities and perspectives to build a fruitful conversation and impactful collaborative experience. TFA conducted in depth conversation with each of the candidates beforehand. Participants selected had to be from countries with mobility restriction, either due to political instability, conflict or visa policies. Even though this pilot version also invited ‘privileged’ artists who share the lived experience of mobility restriction as part of their past and who are not facing these challenges (anymore), most of the participants currently live in war/conflict zones, have recently being cancelled/ or couldn’t follow the invitation to festivals/cultural projects due to visa rejection and the like.  

Once the cohort was formed, communication prior to the arrival played a key role in setting up the tone of the experience, aligning the expectations of the group and building up trust. Participants were given detailed explanation of what was expected from them and what could be provided, without disclosing specific information on the island. They were also asked to follow the non-disclosure commitment in their personal digital outreach. The first collective commitment was proposed to them, aiming to facilitate unusual entry points to the conversations (underlying theoretical considerations described in the chapter before): 

The-not-sharing-backgrounds-game: Having in mind they would meet at the airport of Istanbul and travel together to the island, the proposal encouraged them to search for new ways of getting to know each other as well as to play with different ideas of identity. They were requested to avoid the classical information exchange of personal details that are referring to classifying labels such as country of origin, job position, age, etc. It started on  their travels and extended during the first days on the island. 

Further commitments were proposed after the group's arrival on the island: 

Internet diet: Participants were invited to limit digital presence to expand the time of analog and physical connection. This commitment was not mandatory as the leading team acknowledged that some people might not have the privilege to disconnect for an extended period of time due to a variety of reasons (family, jobs, tense political scenarios in their home countries, etc.) Therefore, deciding what percentage of their digital presence was a habit that could be cut off and committing to work in that direction was a responsibility of each person.  

4:42: This playful approach of documenting the experience collectively was organised as a small daily ritual: each person would commit to make a short 1 minute video or photo per day, from its own point of view, at a specific time - 4:42 PM. This timeframe usually coincided with the afternoon break and therefore invited participants for a short moment in presence. It did not include the demand for a certain outcome or a specific content. This activity resulted in creative contributions that were later shared with local residents.  

Once on the island, the first intention was to unlock bodily presence. For it, a series of sensorial practices were offered:   

→ Daily Silent walk: This activity consisted of walking together to a regular spot on an isolated beach, and back. The total time being 1 hour —20 minutes walk through the fields on each way, and 20 minutes for silent contemplation or guided meditation practices on the site. Once back, silence would slowly transition to a communal shared breakfast where the impressions of the experience could be shared.  

→ Field Explorations: Field Explorations encouraged alone time in nature as a way to slow down the pace and identify emotions and thoughts that were present at the beginning of the lab. In parallel, this practice was designed to map out different locations of the island.  Each one’s experience on each particular location was later shared with the group, creating a collective map of the island based on the memories and senses.  

→ Sensory Walk: Facilitated by a local anthropologist and expert in the flora of the island, this activity was a continuation and deepening of the other two. It aimed at a better understanding and engagement with the natural surroundings. 

As a way to engage with the local community, local chefs and cooks were invited to prepare traditional meals. Also, as a wrap up of the experience, a small gathering was organised in which the questions and outcomes of the week were shared.  To build a sense of group and engagement a collective cleaning of the Kupeli family warehouse was organised. The space belongs to the local partner, and it is meant to become the main venue for future events.