This May marks the seventh anniversary of Joy Diversion, a celebration of joyful meandering through places known and unknown, regarding them as spaces or adventures yet to be defined.
Joy Diversion evolved out of an event called “Who Owns the Land?” that we ran with Guy Shrubsole (author of “Who Owns England”, “The Lost Rainforests of Britain”) and Morag Rose (founder of the Loiterers’ Resistance Movement). As well as our work examining how data technologies within the urban built environment capture space and the people within them, and how people’s rights—both in the physical and data worlds—change depending on the kind of space they occupy.
An underlying theme within Joy Diversion is one of ownership: how we as citizens have rights to and ownership of public space, but also how we have ownership of our own experiences. Our cities have become transactional affairs where we pass through them to get from one place to another, where our presence is legitimised by work or consumption. Yet this functional concept of the city leads to a certain sterility and soullessness, where those who don’t wish to spend are unwelcome.
Joy Diversion challenges this commodification of urban space. It encourages participants to make their own adventures and provides tools—such as explorer backpacks—to make that happen. Our urban spaces are much more than buildings, roads and paths. They areplaces where fun can be had and where we can find joy, if we give ourselves the chance to look.
Join us this May as we continue this tradition of playful urban exploration and communal rediscovery. https://bit.ly/ODM-JOY17