Hiberno-Celtic Futurism for Sustainability, Research & Innovation

A self-determined and re-imagined narrative that envisions a future deeply rooted in the knowledge and rich history of Ireland.

I've been exploring the topic of 'futurisms' from a few different avenues, including the study of 'utopias', 'futures visioning' and 'social imaginary' and exploration of the interconnectedness of nature, culture, technology and the role of artistic expression in cultural production and cultural imaginary.

What would an Irish-Celtic Futurism look like? I have been exploring our animist history, myths, practices and traditions for inspiration and recently came across a proposal by two researchers at University College Dublin entitled 'Hiberno-Celtic Futurism as a Nexus for 21st Century Sustainable and Trans-disciplinary Innovation and Research'.

I learned recently that the word 'innovation' (ick!) can even be traced back to Old Irish. ‘Innovate’ or ‘Innovation'; breaking this down, the word ‘ovate’ is used to describe an egg-shape. The word ovate can be linked to Latin plural Ovatēs, from Greek Ouateis "soothsayers, prophets," which I think is rather poetic when we trace it back from Proto-Celtic *vateis, plural of *vatis, cognate with Latin vatis, - or in Old Irish as fáith which means ‘prophet’ or ‘seer’. If we remove the fada (á) it becomes legible in modern English as ‘faith’.

Do you have faith in 'innovation'?