Oracle of Amsterdam Conference - 28 May 2019 - Tolhuistuin

Oracle of Amsterdam conference was the grand finale of Specially Unknown.

This festive and inspiring closure was held 28 June 2019 in Amsterdam.

It got its name and is inspired by the two “Delphi-es”: the ancient Greek oracle of Delphi and the 20th century Delphi research method. The Greek oracle Pythia based her prophecies and advises about the best courses of action on the whispers from the Gods and from the priests with the “local” knowledge. Delphi Research method is a modern version of this, based on the arguments and recommendations of a “collective intelligence” of the experts from different fields of work.

Oracle of Amsterdam conference shared the outcomes of the project Specially Unknown - about collecting and sharing life-stories from refugees - and actively engage the participants with the following questions: • How can the stories of the refugees be a part of the cultural heritage of the European cities? • In which ways these stories can be presented to the broader public / audiences? • What is the meaning of cultural participation of refugees? • What are the various roles we - each and all of us – could take in these matters?

To enable the creative involvement of the participants, Oracle of Amsterdam conference took a form of a temporary oracle space, where the participants became the whisperers, who think, dream and create the whispers for the Oracle of Amsterdam: a desirable, possible, and probable scenarios as the answers to these questions. Conference’s sessions, based on the fragments of the Specially Unknown interviews, artistic works inspired by them and the issues brought up to light by the Delphi research, were meant to motivate participants to create their own ideas, thoughts, visions and plans, to share their ideas as their whispers and in that way become the whisperers themselves.

More about the conference – its program, first impressions, videos etc, – you can find here..