What is the role of imagination in envisaging a sustainable society?

Dialogues with Tomorrow places artists in conversation with scientists, business people and thinkers on themes related to climate change. In each session, an artist or cultural commentator presents ideas and work inspired by environmental issues. A response is provided an expert in the field, followed by discussion that brings together the knowledge, ideas and reactions of the speakers.

After Supermarkets:

Status quo economics are an environmental hazard. How can business be conducted so as to allow both people and planet to prosper? Is feeding the hungry less about increased food production and more about re-distribution? Kim Paton’s recent Free Store project was living research into attitudes to food and waste from produce, posing counter-cultural alternatives to commercial exchange in a retail context.

Guest speakers:
Kim Paton, Artist and Retailer - Kim Paton has an Honours degree in Fine Arts from Massey University (Wellington) and is currently completing a Masters in Business at Waikato University. She exhibits regularly throughout New Zealand, recent projects include Imagining Victories at the Adam Art Gallery and Break: Towards a Public Realm at the Govett Brewster. She is interested in new ideas in economics and independent business practice and for the last 3 years has owned a grocery store in Raglan.

Dr M. Claire Dale, Economist, University of Auckland - Dr M. Claire Dale, Research Fellow for the Retirement Policy and Research Centre at the University of Auckland, serves on the Insurance and Savings Ombudsmans Scheme Commission, and on the Child Poverty Action Group Executive. Her primary interest is in discourses of excess, complexity, and collaboration.

Chair: Ian Wedde - Ian Wedde is a freelance writer and curator based in Wellington. In 2008/9 he curated the Rotorua Museum of Art and History's centennial exhibition,'He Korowai o te Wai - the Mantle of Water', a project about freshwater. His recent books are an art monograph, 'Bill Culbert: Making Light Work'(AUP/RGAP 2009) and a collection of poems, 'Good Business' (AUP 2009).