Open Space - November 2026 : Posthuman Adeventuring

Posthuman Adventuring

with Helen Bowstead, Ken Gale & Mary Garland

Inspired by Erin Manning's presentation at the Adventures in Posthumanism reading group in 2022, we - Helen, Ken, Mary - began to write together. The words flowed between the three, rarely in the same rhythm and often ‘out of step’ (Deleuze and Parnet, 2002, p. 13), but always in an ‘already absent collaboration’ (St. Pierre, 2014).

This invitation to contribute to a Cani-Net Open Space session has provoked us into revisiting these collaborative writings that made their way into a book: 'Posthuman Adventuring: Moments, Movements, Encounters' (chapter 6). Working with Manning’s concept of 'anarchiving', we explore together-apart the generative potential of writing on the move. As Manning suggests, the anarchive needs the archive from which to depart and through which to pass. Thus, the chapter becomes a springboard creating possibilities for “formative tendencies; compositional forces seeking a new taking-form; lures for further process” (3 Ecologies, n.d.).

With "writing only really know[ing] what it's after once it has begun to make its way into the world" (Manning, 2016, p. ix), we are looking forward to seeing and sharing this new writing with you. We are even more excited about the collaborative writings that will emerge on the day!