A:Practice is a set of principles and practices developed by FATC to solve complex social problems in the time of ecological crisis. Drawing on arts, agriculture, admin, and activism practices, the project includes a “Matrix of Action” to guide ecological decision-making for cultural organisations. A:Practice is part of the Synergies research project, funded by Pro Helvetia, in collaboration with KlimaKontor.

A:PRACTICE MINI CONFERENCE
At the My Body My Space Festival 

13th of March 2025 

What do the future ancestors need from us now?
FATC'S “A:Practice" is a way of seeing and responding to the currently unfolding realities in society and our environments. It is a fluid but replicable model, with the potential to be a powerful tool for cultural, creative and other institutions that wish to fundamentally adapt their raison d'être in the face of climate catastrophe and the rapid loss of livelihoods.

2pm, at the tree — INTRODUCTION to A:PRACTICE 

—NEW WORLD – Performance by Mduduzi Masango

—WHAT IS A:PRACTICE? – PJ Sabbagha

—PRESENTATION OF THE MATRIX OF ACTION – Barbara Ellenberger
The Matrix of Action offers a holistic perspective on the global ecological situation and helps us to consistently and continuously move from an ego-centric to an eco-centric way of life.

—THE NARRATIVE OF EARTH – Performance by Promise Mosoma
A dance performance that helps us to learn more about the earth, as they is our foundation. Through dance, the performer invites the audience to use their imagination and the music as a guide, just as the dancer does.

2.40pm, under the roof of the carport

—HOPE DIES, ACTION BEGINS – A participatory poetry installation by Tamara Guhrs
“When hope dies, action begins” – this was the rallying call of the Extinction Rebellion movement five years ago. Where are we now? You are invited to contribute to the “THE 4 FIELDS OF ACTION” with your poetic responses.
How do we 
Reconnect, rediscover, relearn?
Bend, boycott, break off?
Rethink, reclaim, reimagine?
Contribute, support, nurture?

—NGIZOKUTHOLA KUPHI UKUDLA (WHERE WILL I FIND THE FOOD) – Performance by Bongumusa Gumede
A destitute boy, who's living by begging people on the street, picking left -overs from the bin . He's being pushed aside, ignored, and rejected, which leads him to living in sleep. And he even dreams about the life that he is living.

3.15pm, classroom — “THIS IS WHERE WE LIVE”

—RECLAIMING SPACE through placemaking – A Panel-Discussion 
The challenges brought on by accelerating ecological crises are often noticed in the spaces we move through. This panel discussion explores ways in which the arts can contribute to community development through placemaking and design thinking.
With: Obusitswe “Birdking” Seage (Artist), PJ Sabbagha (Managing and Artistic Director FATC), Xy and Xy (Drama for Life) Bongani Sidu (Municipality of eNtokozweni) Xy, Xy, Xy (Adopters of converted green places at Emthonjeni)
Moderation: Tamara Guhrs

4:20pm, at the tree

—REDUCTION OF AIR – Performance by Doctor Choma
In a world on the brink of suffocating, one breath can be the difference between life and death.

CONTRIBUTE / SUPPORT / NURTURE  – A Networking Moment
In this session, we invite you to join us in the A:Practice project by identifying where you fit, how you could contribute, and positioning yourself in a bigger network. 
Moderation: Tshego Khutsoane (FATC), PJ Sabbagha (FATC)

—NATURE IS THE FOUNDATION OF LIFE – Performance by Nontobeko Mahlangu, Promise Mosoma, Banele Sindane, Zanoxolo Nkosi
The choreography aims to inspire the audience to appreciate nature and value its importance. It encourages the audience to reflect on their relationship with nature & to strive for harmony & balance in their lives.

—THERE IS NO PLANET B – Installation by Melusi Nkosi
The installation's aim is to bring awareness about the current situation that we have put our planet earth into in terms of our activities mostly economically and technologically and also the solutions that are available for us to take to make the situation better.

4:40pm, at the future compost heap — COMPOST MAKING – Exchange of Resources between FATC and Community

—DECOMPOSE. RECOMPOSE.
Human beings have access to harmonious engagement with the expanse of the microbial universe through the practice of composting. Let’s invest in the future of greening eNtokozweni and build a bridge to food security with a communal compost heap. 

“To work with compost is to humbly accept an invitation to rethink our relationship with the Earth while actively engaging in a process of composition.” R Steiner."
Moderation: Caro Tapson

—DISCORDANT (IHLUKUMEZEKILE) – Performance by Zanoxolo Nkosi
The elements of life are interconnected and interdependent to one another and because of climate change they're creating a thought-provoking narrative that highlights the importance of harmony and unbalance in our lives. 

5.15pm, where the future garden trenches will be

—ASK ALL QUESTIONS! 
A public Q&A to conclude this afternoon at the MBMS Festival, but hopefully much more a starting point for further common investigation with the aim (supported by A:Practice and its Matrix of Action, among others) of being curious, courageous and confident to do what our future ancestors need from us – now.
Moderation: Tshego Khutsoane and PJ Sabbagha and Tamara Guhrs

—BLACK JUICE – Performance by Vuyo Nkabule
We inform, raise awareness and raise a question to people about the colour black and the healthy lifestyle. What Is black? What does black mean in your healthy lifestyle, black can mean a lot of things. It can mean strong and brave on the brighter side but it can also mean evil, pain, suffering and death, which puts up a question: Is “black juice” killing us or is water killing black people?

6.10pm, at the warehouse — FINALE

—31 YEARS OF LIES* – Performance by Sandisile Duma
We've been voting for change but still there's no change. Corruption, but no service delivery!

—FADING ECHOES – Performance by Julia Mtshweni and Adrian Tony (Smurf)
A visual metaphor of the world "fading" from neglect but still holding the possibility of revival through youth-driven change.

Ends at 6.30pm 

Thanks to the Agri-Team Mancoba Mahlangu, Maxwell Masina and Gift Marvin Zulu for preparing the place, to the Admin-Team Nelisiwe Mkhawane (Administration Officer) and Zinhle Purity Hadebe, to Dumisani Tlou (Food Security Programmes and Facilities Officer) and Nicholas Aphane (Arts and Education Programmes Officer) for there support. 

A:Practice is part of the Synergies research project, funded by Pro Helvetia, in collaboration with KlimaKontor (Switzerland). 

A:Practice is on the Tatenbank – "The action platform for a more sustainable culture" is a project by vert le future. The Tatenbank offers condensed knowledge checked by experts, specific aids and tools and inspiring examples of sustainable work in all areas of cultural creation.

Wie kann es sein, dass zivilisierte Gesellschaften die Lebensgrundlagen der Menschheit zerstören? Welche historischen Voraussetzungen, Weltanschauungen, wissenschaftlichen und politischen Ideologien haben uns so weit gebracht? Und wie sehen Welt- und Menschenbilder aus, die ein belastbares Fundament für ökologisches Denken, Handeln und Kommunizieren bieten?

Ab dem 26.08. treffen wir uns jeden zweiten Montag um 19 Uhr zur Diskussion und zur Erweiterung unserer Vorstellungshorizonte, damit eine ökologisch begründete Welt darin Platz findet, erzählbar wird und uns erlaubt, Verantwortung für unser Denken und Handeln zu übernehmen.

Alle Termine: 26.08 / 09.09. / 23.09. / 07.10. / 21.10. (19.30 Uhr) / 04.11. / 18.11. jeweils 19 Uhr

Alle sind herzlich zum Mitreden und Mitdenken eingeladen. Gute Voraussetzungen dafür sind, der Wunsch, urteils- und handlungsfähig zu werden und wenn möglich an allen Terminen teilzunehmen.

Das Angebot ist kostenlos. Bringt ein Sandwich mit!
Interessierte melden sich bei switzerland@apractice.art

Treffpunkt:
Kulturhaus Helferei
Kirchgasse 13, 8001 Zürich

Der Runde Tisch Ökologie ist eine Initiative von «A:Practice» (Barbara Ellenberger und Matthias Michel). A:Practice ist in Kooperation von The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative (FATC), Südafrika, und KlimaKontor, Schweiz, entstanden. A:Practice kann u.a. als Organisationsentwicklungstool für Kulturinstitutionen dienen, die sich angesichts eskalierender ökologischer und sozialer Krisen neu positionieren wollen.

In Kooperation mit dem Kulturhaus Helferei.

«3 hours with Barbara echoing in all dimensions of our project while we are feeling as centered as never before in the face of the challenges ahead of us.» Oona & Daniela

We are very thankfull for the trust and support we got from Migros Culture Percentage m2act! Now we are on their website:
a) as a m2act-supperted project
b) as part of the Migros Culture Percentage m2act-Toolbox
Both descriptions of how A:Practice can be implemented in different contexts might help you to find your own application!

Our project "A:Practice - collaborative practices for climate resilience" was selected as part of Pro Helvetia's Synergies-programme. The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative (FATC) (South Africa) and KlimaKontor (Switzerland) will continue their collaboration. Many thanks to the great jury!
Our motivation arises out of a generalised global need for new thinking in the face of escalating climate collapse, new ways of tackling food production at a local level to break the reliance on industrialised agriculture.
The programme emerges at a localised level, from a 2022 Pro Helvetia funded residency where creative climate leader and companion Barbara Ellenberger spent time in a co-creative process with The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative (FATC) in Mpumalanga, South Africa. During the residency, the collaborating parties worked to define the emergent practices and theories that FATC has been developing and prototyping over the past five years, in response to environmental degradation, climate change and pandemic.
These experiential practices and philosophies, which combine art, agroecology and management training, have been successfully formulated in a practical framework to support cultural organisations on the path to climate-positive transformation.

During the Creative Climate Leadership Week (CCL) Switzerland 2024, I thought about how A:Practice can be put to good use. And in this context also about myself as a "leader". I realise that in my previous role as an artistic managing director of theatres, I also saw myself more as a "companion". I initiated projects and drove them forward, but always with the focus on empowering everyone involved. In the context of A:Practice, I also see myself more as a companion than a leader. Especially here.
A:Practice serves as a tool for institutional self-reflection. The action matrix offers a holistic perspective on the global ecological situation and supports institutions in the transition from recognising their own limits and significance to explicit commitment as ecological actors in solidarity and cooperation with other actors.
Working with the action matrix leads to action. It illustrates how operational and substantive measures can be interlinked and implemented simultaneously, and supports their strategic bundling. Everyone can contribute directly and play their part. This contributes to the empowerment of everyone, promotes enthusiasm and vigour and thus increases the speed of implementation and reduces bureaucratic effort.
I can get involved in these processes as a facilitator - someone who listens, who resonates, who knows when an impulse is needed and when not - as a companion in a diverse, adventurous process towards a more ecological world.

Today, when launching the website, I am thinking of these three images. I was still in South Africa, on the farm where FATC operates. Under pressure due to my changed return date (ship schedules are not as exact as those of trains), which was moved up by three weeks, we sketched out a first Matrix of Action after three months of collective reflection and discussion. While drawing, I thought of the weaver birds. They start their nest with a single blade of grass, giving no hint of the beauty and functionality the nest will eventually have. Putting one stroke after another, sketching out everything we know, and seeing what emerges was our motto.
Meanwhile, Matthias helped to conceptually solidify the matrix, and Hubertus Design has visually refined it.