Our collective was founded with an intent to foster the kind of knowledge-making that comes from collaborations in-between people who come from different backgrounds. That is why we are always excited for more people to join us and help this platform grow because the more we build together, the more possibilities there will be for KONTEKST.
Who can join KONTEKST?
KONTEKST is an open collective so everyone who shares our values and vision and has interest in our activities is welcome to freely join however they wish as members. You don’t need to be an anthropologist, or a university student, to join.
Why should I join?
The platform was founded to support talented critically-minded people and to foster critical friendships. There are various ways in which being a KONTEKST member can benefit you:
Being a part of our growing community will connect you with other artists, filmmakers, researchers etc from around the world — increasing your chances of finding collaborators for new projects or making new friends with interesting people. We currently communicate via group chats on WhatsApp to which we can add you when you request to join us.
As a KONTEKST member you will be welcome to use our platform to showcase yourself, your events and projects. You can use: our social media channels for promotion, our logos for official patronage for your event/project, our website to host your spotlight page in the members directory and any other webpages for your events ot projects, our email inbox to do comms for your events.
If you are an emerging creator-researcher, being affiliated with the collective platform can potentially boost your opportunities. We will credit all your contribution to KONTEKST so that you can use it as work experience. We can add you to our members directory so that others can connect with you and we can also provide you references if needed.
We are here to make positive change and deconstructs. If you agree with our principles then you may have just found your community.
How is KONTEKST organised?
KONTEKST is intended to function as a co-operative. There are no bosses as we believe in alternatives: grassroots and horizontal forms of organising. We hope with time to serve as a reference point for other anti-capitalist collectives and initiatives.
KONTEKST maintains an admin team which ensures the continued activity of the collective, plans KONTEKST events, manages our online resources and communication channels, looks for future opportunities, and is in charge of safeguarding. All members are welcome to join the admin team, and members of the admin team are intended to change over time depending on individual capacity.
Admin team meets every two weeks for a catch-up (these are hybrid meetings: both in-person and online) where we update one another on what we have been working on. We set our tasks as a group and work on them within a few working groups: comms/outreach, visual comms/social media, website, events/community building which you are welcome to join after participating in at least one admin catch-up session.
How to join?
Firstly, make sure to sign up to our newsletter to know about our upcoming open collective meetings and other events. If there are no upcoming open meetings scheduled — contact us! Send us a message with a brief introduction of yourself and why you’d like to join our group.
We will add you to our WhatsApp channel which currently has 2 public group chats you can join:
KONTEKST community chat - please say hi with a short intro when you join. Open for anyone and everyone to use as a notice board. Use it to exchange resources, promote events and projects, organise group activities together, propose ideas for projects, ask questions to other KONTEKST members. Great way to make new friends and start new collaborations.
GET INVOLVED - For anything related to building KONTEKST together. This is where we announce the dates for the upcoming admin catch-ups, post call-outs for volunteers as well as opportunities for you to get involved in small tasks of any kind.
We also have an admin chat and separate chats for the working groups that we can add you to after you show up at one of our biweekly admin catch-ups.
Will I be required to do work once I join?
We don’t expect anyone to do any collective-related tasks unless they have the capacity and choose to do so voluntarily. We all build this platform on the top of our jobs, education and other commitments. In other words, if you like what we’ve written and want to contribute to our shared goals, you are still welcome to join even if your only capability is through promoting this project to your circles.
I want to join but I can’t come to the meetings / I don’t live in London - is there a point in me joining KONTEKST?
You should still join. Even though majority of us are based in London, UK, we are a network of people who live all around the world and who are into similar things. We have set up our platform in a way that will let you participate in our decision-making process even if you can only do it remotely. Admin team catch-ups are always either hybrid or online so that everyone who wants can join.
How formal is the membership?
Membership status is informal and simply refers to any affiliation with KONTEKST. Being featured on our members directory is also voluntary - the platform is here for emerging critically-minded anthropologists, artists, researchers and storytellers to make use of.