23.08.2025, 11:00—16:30

Cristina Lavosi: 'Words, Worlds, and Visions Swirled. A workshop on speculative fiction'

This one-day work­shop invi­tes par­ti­ci­pants to explo­re abo­li­ti­on and trans­for­ma­ti­ve jus­ti­ce through spe­cu­la­ti­ve fic­ti­on and col­lec­ti­ve visu­al ima­gi­na­ti­on. Through cre­a­ti­ve wri­ting prompts and radi­cal peda­go­gy exer­ci­ses, we will cre­a­te visi­o­na­ry tales and ima­ges, later assem­b­led into a col­la­bo­ra­ti­ve zine publication.

Directed to: any­o­ne inte­rested in chal­len­ging the cri­mi­nal legal sys­tem and ima­gi­ning alter­na­ti­ve appro­a­ches to soci­al con­flict. It may be of par­ti­cu­lar inte­rest to acti­vists, orga­ni­sers, scho­lars, artists, and wri­ters curious about the poten­ti­al of col­lec­ti­ve spe­cu­la­ti­on to move beyond the car­ce­ral sta­te and its puni­ti­ve logics. However, no pri­or expe­rien­ce in wri­ting, visu­al arts, or legal mat­ters is required.

Register at this link.

For inqui­ries plea­se email us at: cristinalavosi@​gmail.​com

Detailed work­shop description

As adri­en­ne maree brown and Walidah Imarisha not­ed — and as their antho­lo­gy Octavia’s Brood beau­ti­ful­ly illu­stra­ted — ima­gi­ning a more just world, one free from war, capi­ta­lism, prisons, and poli­cing, is an act of spe­cu­la­ti­ve fic­ti­on. This is what acti­vists and orga­ni­sers do all the time. Social jus­ti­ce and spe­cu­la­ti­ve fic­ti­on are dee­ply lin­ked ima­gi­na­ti­ve acts, and under­ta­king the cre­a­ti­ve work of ima­gi­na­ti­on is essen­ti­al for resis­ting the dangers of living in a world ima­gi­ned by others. 

Visual artist Cristina Lavosi and the Cas-co team invi­te you to take part in a work­shop explo­ring trans­for­ma­ti­ve jus­ti­ce and abo­li­ti­on through the lens of spe­cu­la­ti­ve fic­ti­on and col­lec­ti­ve visu­al ima­gi­na­ti­on. This par­ti­ci­pa­to­ry event offers a spa­ce to reima­gi­ne a soci­e­ty beyond poli­cing, punish­ment, and car­ce­ral logics in cre­a­ti­ve ways, dra­wing con­nec­ti­ons bet­ween radi­cal visi­o­na­ry fic­ti­on and move­ments for soci­al chan­ge; we will test together the poten­ti­al of col­lec­ti­ve spe­cu­la­ti­on in pro­po­sing alter­na­ti­ve soci­al structures.

What we will do

Inspired by cre­a­ti­ve wri­ting prac­ti­ces and dra­wing from radi­cal edu­ca­ti­on stra­te­gies, we will: 

• sha­re ide­as on and dis­cuss exis­ting visi­o­na­ry sto­ries and inspi­ring texts with strong jus­ti­ce the­mes or abolition-focussed;

• expe­ri­ment with wri­ting exer­ci­ses, star­ting from prompts of varying lengths;

• work with ima­ges as well as our bodies to visu­a­li­se our ideas.

Through the­se acti­vi­ties, we will cre­a­te short sto­ries and pro­du­ce visu­al inter­pre­ta­ti­ons that ima­gi­na­ti­ve­ly hint to a soci­e­ty that addres­ses con­flict wit­hout rely­ing on punish­ment, exclu­si­on, sur­veil­lan­ce, or era­su­re. We encou­ra­ge par­ti­ci­pants to explo­re a wide ran­ge of gen­res — from sci-fi to mytho­lo­gy, fan­ta­sy, episto­la­ry wri­ting, hor­ror, and magi­cal rea­lism — whi­le kee­ping the sha­red goal of brin­ging ima­gi­na­ti­on and fresh per­spec­ti­ves into our poli­ti­cal thought and practice.

With the tex­tu­al and visu­al mate­ri­als pro­du­ced, we will design a zine together, which the artist will later print in riso­graph with the sup­port of the Graphical Lab near Cas-co.

The work­shop is open to all sub­jec­ti­vi­ties; we kind­ly ask eve­ry­o­ne to enga­ge with res­pect for our trans­fe­mi­nist, anti-racist, anti-capi­ta­list, and non-ableist valu­es throug­hout our col­lec­ti­ve process.

We aim to make our work­shop as acces­si­ble as pos­si­ble to eve­ry­o­ne: in the regi­stra­ti­on form you can spe­ci­fy your needs or any sup­port that would help you par­ti­ci­pa­te fully.