You are most welcome.

The Convivial is an interdisciplinary symposium based in Penryn, Cornwall and inspired by the concept of ‘conviviality’ as spoken about by Ivan Illich: 

“I intend [‘conviviality’] to mean autonomous and creative intercourse among persons, and the intercourse of persons with their environment; and this in contrast with the conditioned response of persons to the demands made upon them by others, and by a man-made environment. I consider conviviality to be individual freedom realised in personal interdependence and, as such, an intrinsic ethical value. I believe that, in any society, as conviviality is reduced below a certain level, no amount of industrial productivity can effectively satisfy the needs it creates among society’s members.”

Ivan Illich, Tools for Conviviality

The Convivial provides a hospitable space for imagination and creative discourse that is accessible for the community to attend for free or for a donation. We are driven by the desire for open-access knowledge and tools for imagination in a world that desperately needs both. The Convivial wishes to break down institutional walls and share the wisdom within them with those who are best placed to use it – the community itself. 

We host speakers, teachers and facilitators who are practitioners and experts across the sciences, arts and humanities to contribute to a conversation about what it means to live well in the world today. The intention is to create a space for sharing wisdom with far fewer barriers for entry into worlds of knowledge, tools and inspiration. Our contributors are poets, artists, academics, scientists, inventors, activists, friends, neighbours (or a mixture of many things!) and each gathering offers a portal or an opening into a more nourishing and imaginative world. 

Would you like to offer a course, ritual, performance, talk or workshop? Head to the Share your wisdom page.

For all other enquiries or to tell us the kinds of subjects important to you, please email us at hellotheconvivial@gmail.com.