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Spoiler alert: a two-plot movie night

Galina ZhukovaLeave a comment

Continuing from the last sneak peek at our installation results..

We invite you to the movies with the theme of exploring the first impressions and images of personal and global futures…

Spoiler alert: It’s a two-plot movie night.


My Personal Future: 🎬 “An Uplifting Coming-of-Age Story”
Starring… me! The script is a little vague, sure. We have the usual plot twists with “Challenges” and “Mystery” sprinkled in — but in that inspiring “I’ll overcome them and grow as a person” kind of way.

32.2% of the reviews are positive and aspirational! A solid three-star film with heart.


The World’s Future: 🎬 “A Stress-Inducing Thriller”
Rated: 😬
Critics are calling it “Disturbing,” “A Merciless Struggle” and just plain “Meh..” The tagline? “Vague… But somehow also Running Out of Time – no dramatic arc just downright chaos and anguish”.

Over 50% of the audience reported pure anxiety or confusion.
Only 18.3% left the theatre feeling good – perhaps a little too dystopian for them. Major studio vibes, zero resolution.

The Director’s Commentary:
Turns out, uncertainty is in both films (about 15% each). But in my movie, it’s a “mysterious opportunity.” In the world’s movie, it’s just… “creepy otherness.” Which sounds like a rejected Black Mirror episode.

The Real Plot Twist:
We’re all living in both movies at once.

Personally? The hopeful lead with character development.

Globally? Nervous extra in the background wondering why they signed up for this.

So, what’s the takeaway?
Are we dealing with an unreliable narrator or maybe just missing the deeper meaning?
Or maybe we need to fire the world’s screenwriter. Or at least pitch a hopeful spin-off.

Your turn: Which film are you starring in right now? And does your global future need a rewrite?

🔍 Imagining Futures of Culture — Together

Galina ZhukovaLeave a comment

At the recent Forum de la Culture Durable in Brussels, we invited participants to step into an ephemeral time-travel machine. Guided by our ongoing research, we didn’t just discuss possible futures—we felt them, questioned them, and began to shape them, together.

Our research points to three recurring narratives about the future of culture:
🤖 one shaped by AI
🌍 one focused on building climate-proof cultural events
🤝 one where social bonds may become our most endangered resource

In this immersive session, participants explored these three paths and helped us map a fourth one, emerging from what they already carried with them.

🌱 What surfaced were very concrete worries:
– Fears that AI might replace what makes us human — creativity, sensitivity, craftsmanship.
– Concerns about losing skills by delegating too much.
– Anxiety about impoverishment, shrinking funding, and cultural work becoming more competitive yet less meaningful.
– And a recurring fear of being less together — fewer physical encounters, fewer shared moments, fewer human connections.

🌱 Alongside these worries, strong hopes were voiced:
– That AI cannot replace empathy, love, or the ability to really encounter others.
– That solidarity and mutual support can still be preserved.
– That people — artists, technicians, cooks, teams, audiences — will remain the core ingredient of cultural life.
– That rituals like live music, dancing together, celebration, saying hello, and simply being present can endure.

When asked what they would save if culture had to fit into a single van, many answered simply: the people.

In this express and immersive format, research insights became an embodied experience. Despite the late hour, participants stayed attentive and curious — and several lingered afterwards to share reflections about how rarely they get space to speak about emotions, values, and relationships in professional cultural settings.

What struck us most was how consistently one theme returned, across the different futures:
the need to stay connected — to one another, to shared rituals, and to what makes culture alive.

Our research keeps pointing to this: it’s not only resources that make the difference. Collective imagination — especially when it is shared — may be one of the most powerful cultural technologies we have.

Moments like this remind us that culture is not fixed. It is dynamic. It is alive, and shaped by what we choose to nurture. And perhaps the future of culture is not a single vision, but something that emerges between anxiety and action, when we choose connection over isolation.

A big thank you to the EventChange team, Nicolas Fieulaine and NFÉtudes for the invitation and the opportunity ✨

💬 What kind of future do you believe culture can help us build?

Some insights from the data we collected with our immersive installation last summer…

Galina ZhukovaLeave a comment



To set the stage, here’s something to ponder about. Imagine walking into the Space of Futurization asking yourself: “What is the colour of the future?” and “What is the weather of the future?“

Our results show a fascinating conflict:


🎨 Colour palette:
Cool blues.
Fresh greens.
Elegant greys.
Very Scandinavian. Very calm. Very “we’ve got this.”


☀️ Weather forecast:
🔥🔥🔥 EXTREME HEAT 🔥🔥🔥
(55% of responses. No shade. Literally.)

So on one hand, we imagine the future looking like a peaceful design mood board powered by optimism.
On the other hand, it feels like standing barefoot on asphalt in August and the anxiety rises…

To summarize:
We see a future that’s aesthetically aligned for maximum calm and growth… while physiologically preparing for the ultimate hot yoga session.

This raises a few questions:
– Can we hold on to calm while anticipating disruption?
– Are we optimistic aesthetes who are also pragmatic realists?
– Are we holding onto the hope that rising temperatures won’t erase the natural world’s colour palette?
– Or are we just hoping our future solar-powered indoor air-con units look really nice in mint green?

Or maybe our imagination is already air-conditioned, while our emotions are not.
And maybe the real question is whether this coexistence of calm and anxiety is sustainable…

Or, to put it more bluntly:
Are we determined that if we’ll soon be walking on hot coals, we might as well look chic while doing so?

💬 If you had to explain this contrast in one sentence, what would you say?
💬 What is the colour palette—or the weather—of your future?

Beyond a Single Space: The Expanding Vision for “The Space of Futurization”

Galina ZhukovaLeave a comment


After our recent sessions at Ashoka University, one powerful question stayed with us:
“Could this become a permanent installation on our campus?”

That question goes to the heart of our long-term vision. It is not an either/or logic, but an and/and one. We envision multiple futures for the Space — as the starting point of an ecosystem:

🔹 Pop-Up Catalysts – Igniting conversations at festivals and events
🔹 Touring Deep-Dives – Semester-long residencies and co-creation
🔹 Permanent Anchors – A lasting resource for institutions committed to futures literacy and emotional resilience



This work is already growing. We are grateful for Nicolas Fieulaine’s invitation to bring our Images of the Future workshop to students at Sciences Po Lyon on Jan 29 & Feb 5.

We are now looking for our next partners.

Is your university, cultural institution, or organisation looking for a tangible, research-backed way to:
• Foster hope and agency in the face of uncertainty?
• Bridge the gap between personal optimism and global anxiety?
• Create a safe space for sharing the emotions about the future?

We invite you to reach out. Let’s explore how a pop-up, residency, or permanent Space of Futurization could live within your community.

👉 Interested in hosting a conversation or workshop?

Send us a DM or contact: hello [at] creativetimelab.org

🔍 Early Insights: What Does “Futurization” Mean to Us?

Galina ZhukovaLeave a comment

Back in 2017–2018, when the Futurization of Thinking and Behaviour project was just beginning, we conducted our first pilot study to understand how people perceive the very word “futurization.”

What does it make you think of? How does it make you feel? What colors or images come to mind?

Our small survey and the first focus-group revealed some fascinating impressions:

💡 Futurization was often linked to technology, innovation, robots, and automation — a kind of ultra-modern world shaped by human design.

🎨 The colors people associated with the future were cold and metallic — white, chrome, silver, steel grey — with only rare traces of green or blue, and almost no warm tones.

🦸‍♂️ When asked to imagine a “character” of futurization, participants named robots, superheroes, and tech icons — mostly male, mostly artificial.

Emotionally, the future felt mixed:
✨ Curiosity (70%) and optimism were paired with uneasiness (60%), hope (50%) with strangeness (40%), and even fear (30%).

These early findings already hinted at something essential:
our collective imagination of the future was technological but emotionally distant — bright and shiny, yet disconnected from nature, humanity, and warmth.

That’s where our work began: to reconnect imagination, emotion, and meaning in how we think about the future.

🌱 The Futurization Project has grown immensely since then — but this first glimpse remains a powerful reminder of why we need to reimagine what the future feels like.

👉 Follow Creative Time Lab to explore how our relationship with the future continues to evolve — through research, art, and collective imagination.

🌱 Creative Time Lab at Department of Economics (BYC) CHRIST (Deemed to be University) Yeshwanthpur : Does the Future Exist?

Anna SircovaLeave a comment

Creative Time Lab was delighted to present our work last week in Bangalore, India, where our co-founder Dr. Anna Sircova led an engaging session on how people imagine their personal and global futures — and how these visions shape emotions, agency, and collective action.

A central moment of the workshop came from the collective reflection on a scenario that questioned whether the future exists at all. This prompted strikingly diverse emotional and cultural responses:

  • Some observed that even contemplating a “non-existent future” can generate anxiety — especially in cultures where future-thinking is tied to meaning, productivity, and purpose.
  • Others, drawing from more cyclical or spiritual worldviews, expressed that the future is neither guaranteed nor necessary as a psychological anchor; what matters is the continuity of the “microcosm” — our actions, values, and their ripple effects.
  • Several participants noted that uncertainty is universal, but a hopeful or optimistic stance is what allows life to remain meaningful in the present.
  • One student connected the discussion to childhood intuitions — the sense that life itself could be a dream — emphasizing that despite uncertainty, hope remains a stabilizing force.

These reflections beautifully illustrated how cultural models of time (linear, circular, or layered) shape not just how people imagine the future, but how they emotionally inhabit it.

Moreover, during the session, we explored the contrasting perceptions of personal futures (often optimistic and goal-oriented) versus global futures (frequently marked by anxiety and urgency), supported by findings from our international research. We also presented our interactive, sensory-based installation, The Space of Futurization —made possible by the generous support of the Fondation APRIL —which aims to transform abstract future-related anxiety into tangible hope and reflective agency.

We were warmly hosted by Joby Thomas, PhD, Dean, and Dr. Jayesh M P, and had the pleasure of meeting the motivated students from the Nudge Club), whose curiosity and behavioural-science lens enriched the discussion.

Thank you to every participant for your openness, insights, and visionary contributions. Together, we are learning to navigate and nurture the possible futures.

🌱 Creative Time Lab at Ashoka University: Multiple Futures & Radical Hope

Anna SircovaLeave a comment

This week, Creative Time Lab had the pleasure of sharing our work at Ashoka University, India, where our co-founder Dr. Anna Sircova was invited to present by Prof. Nandini Chatterjee Singh.

Anna introduced students, faculty, and other curious minds to our ongoing research on how people imagine their personal and global futures — and why these perceptions matter for agency, well-being, and collective action.

Drawing on the insights from Denmark, the United States, China, and India — along with recent findings from our immersive installation “The Space of Futurization,” created in France with support of the Fondation APRIL — the presentation sparked a rich dialogue about imagination, time, culture, and emotion.

Across contexts, we continue to observe a striking pattern:
🔹 People perceive their personal future as brighter, more controllable, and full of possibility
🔹 The global future, however, is often seen as dark, uncertain, and even threatening

At Ashoka, this led to thoughtful reflections on cultural concepts of time (linear vs. circular), the influence of “ready-made images” on future thinking, and the growing emotional burden carried by younger generations. The conversation also ventured into music and the design of spaces where people can safely process emotions about the future.

We were especially excited to discuss how The Space of Futurization functions as a living lab — a participatory environment where people express future-related feelings, co-create meaning, and often rediscover hope through shared experience. Several participants at Ashoka wondered if a permanent campus installation could be possible — an idea we would love to explore further.

A warm thank you to Prof. Nandini Chatterjee Singh for hosting us and fostering such a generative exchange. The curiosity and openness of the Ashoka community left us inspired — and more committed than ever to creating spaces where imagination, dialogue, and radical hope can flourish.

🌿 Two Days of Deep Work, Reflection & Collective Momentum in Lyon

Anna SircovaLeave a comment

This week, our Creative Time Lab team gathered in Lyon for an intensive and heartwarming two-day working session — our first in-person meeting since beginning this new chapter just six weeks ago.

We took a moment to reflect on everything we’ve already built together in such a short time:
✨ setting up the association’s foundations
✨ establishing good practices for how we work together and the tools we use, as we are a distributed and asynchronous team during this period
✨ imagining and planning the next steps for our flagship project

And then — the deep dive.

We immersed ourselves in the rich data collected during the Terres du Son Festival this summer — truly bringing together research, creativity, intuition, and cross-disciplinary perspectives.

The conversations were warm, honest, and energizing — the kind that remind us why we’re doing this work.

We’re excited to soon share the first insights emerging from this analysis. Stay tuned — more is coming, and we can’t wait to bring you into the process!

🌀 At Creative Time Lab, we believe that imagination, research, and collaboration can shape more hopeful futures.

These two days made that belief feel very real — and very alive.

Internship Opportunity at Creative Time Lab

Anna SircovaLeave a comment

Position: Administrative Intern (Part-time, 2-4 months, unpaid)
Location: Lyon / Caluire-et-Cuire, France
Start date: Flexible, but ASAP 🙂

About Creative Time Lab  

Creative Time Lab is a France-based non-profit association that brings together art, science, and social engagement to explore how our relationship with time — especially the future — shapes mental health, creativity, and collective resilience.

Our flagship project, The Space of Futurization, transforms psychological research into participatory, immersive experiences that help people reflect on their hopes, fears, and sense of agency in an uncertain world.

We are a small international team working across France, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, and beyond, developing research-based, cross-cultural initiatives that connect imagination, well-being, and sustainable futures.

About the Internship  

We are looking for a part-time Administrative Intern to provide crucial support in establishing our association’s operational foundations.

This role is ideal for someone who wants to gain hands-on experience in the inner workings of a non-profit and project management, while working in a creative, international, and research-driven environment.

Main Tasks  

🗂️ Support the administrative setup of the association (documents, member coordination, internal organization).
🔎 Conduct background research on potential partners, funding opportunities, and relevant networks in France and internationally.
📬 Help with outreach — contacting organizations, cultural institutions, and research groups.
💬 Assist with communication and coordination between French and English-speaking collaborators.
📝 Contribute to drafting documents, reports, and presentations (in English and/or French).

Ideal Profile  

We’re looking for someone who is:
✨ Curious, organized, and proactive.
🌍 Interested in art, psychology, social innovation, or cultural management.
💬 Native or proficient in French (essential for navigating local administration and communication).
🗣️ Fluent in English — English is our working language.
🤝 Comfortable working in an international, interdisciplinary team.
🕰️ Curious about the non-profit sector and motivated to learn how to establish and run an association in France.

Previous experience in administration, research, or communications is a plus — but motivation and willingness to learn matter most.

What We Offer  

🌿 Insight into the daily workings of an emerging non-profit.
💡 Experience at the intersection of science, art, and social impact.
🧭 Skill development in administration, international project coordination, and stakeholder outreach.
🌍 Collaboration with an international network of researchers and creative professionals.
📚 Mentorship and learning opportunities related to project development, research, and cross-sector collaboration.

Practical Details  

  • Duration: 2-4 months (part-time)
  • Compensation: Unpaid internship
  • Location: Lyon / Caluire-et-Cuire
  • Start Date: ASAP 🙂 (November–December 2025 or early 2026)

If you are passionate about creativity, research, and collective futures, we’d love to hear from you!

📩 To apply: Send your CV and a short motivation letter (in English or French) to hello [at] creativetimelab [dot] org