Interdependence Day

New festival to highlight community cooperation

Nick Jones, of 4C, paints at last week’s installment of Evenings ‘til Eight. The non-profit will host an Interdependence Day at Buckley Park this Saturday. The festival will highlight community connection and feature of wide variety of vendors, talks, demos and entertainment./Courtesy photo

by Katie Clancy

Interdependence? Take it from naturalist and world-preservation seer John Muir: “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.”

Muir might find plenty to like at the Interdependence Festival, set for 10 a.m.-10 p.m. this Sat., July 16, in Buckley Park. With more than 25 nonprofits, small businesses, restaurants, musicians and artists collaborating with talks, demos, live music and food, it’s the perfect excuse to tangle yourself up in Durango’s undeniably intertwined web.

The festival’s nonprofit host, 4C – Conscious, Creative, Cultural, Connection – creates a forum like this for community interaction and art.  
“We are trying to situate each individual group/organization into the context of the community environment,” says 4C co-founder Cy Rauworth. “If we can see each of ourselves as a larger movement, we will be willing to work together instead of taking it on by ourselves.”

The day will provide many eclectic groups a space to advertise their work, network with other companies, educate the public about the power of local economy and celebrate a common vision. According to 4C’s mission, “interdependence means to be responsible for oneself, while at the same time being responsible to each other.”

One of the festival’s vendors, Katrina Blair, founder of Turtle Lake Refuge, said she believes humans are innately cooperative at the root of their nature. “We need each other to survive, and when we realize that cooperation is more powerful than competition, we thrive,” she says.

Interdependence as a social movement began to grow momentum around 2003. The NYC-based “Interdependence Movement (IM)” network is dedicated to advancing new ideas in order to “cope with a changing world that is faced with accelerated globalization, starker inequities between nations, and profound security and environmental threats.”

Like the IM, 4C uses public education, policy development and art to support a more inclusive global (and local) economy where all citizens share in the prosperity of the market.

“In general, capitalism doesn’t take the whole, integrated human into account. But what we see now are businesses that honor profit but do it in the most efficient way. It’s a way of aligning our economy to our values so it truly provides for the community,” Blair commented.
Instead of relying on economic trends like outsourcing to fuel the community, the interdependent movement recognizes the value and efficiency of local resources.

“Nature is abundant – there is more than enough to go around.  We are working under that realm of sharing,” says Blair.
Another one of the festival’s presenters, Katie Holgate, founder of a mushroom-growing business called Mycologic Design, uses local wood chips and coffee grounds to grow her fungi.

“It’s a freeing feeling to know I’m not sustaining this business on my own. I support other locals, which, in turn, helps me and allows me to be more creative and responsible for my own work,” she says. Holgate and another mushroom cultivator, Chris Ricci of Majesty Mushrooms, will be giving a talk on “What Mushrooms Can Do for You!”

Durango native Cuatro Kruse will be building the city’s first “cob” bench in the park on Saturday and uses permaculture to reclaim the artistry of architecture. Built from a simple blend of clay, straw and sand, cob benches are easy and inexpensive to build.  
“Permaculture is a perfect way to learn functional sculpture and bring some magic into our living spaces,” he explains. “I want to show people how fun and easy it is to build organic, functional structures like this bench or earth ovens and even houses.

Kruse believes integrating ancient techniques and modern technology is a way to support interdependence.  

“With this economic crisis, people want to take more control of their own lives. It’s empowering when you learn the skills to do that. It’s about slowing down and remembering old skills like permaculture that are being taken to new levels in modern society,” he says.
4C’s co-founder Kamaljit Punia also feels the festival is a direct response from the community to be the change the world needs.
“The old aspiration used to be independence,” she says. “The new reality is interdependence. No, we can’t transcend the current reality of government and wars. We want to integrate, see what is working, and bring it to an essence that supports a healthier, better quality of life.”
Started last year, 4-C began reaching out to the community by putting out a free glossy magazine called SEEN. With the second edition set to hit the stands next month, they publish poetry, visual art, essays and articles from anyone who submits. In this way, interdependence equals interdisciplinary education and art.

“Art is not only valid, but incredibly vital to a progressive, evolving society,” Punia says. “Both the magazine and this festival encourages people to tap into their creativity. In essence, it’s about learning how to learn.”

The vendors represent all walks of life and experience. Habitat for Humanity – the non-profit that has been in Durango since 1994 – will set up next to Handcrafted House, a first-year start-up business. Others involved include Dancing Willow Herbs, Center of Light, Four Rivers Institute and The Red Tent.

Turtle Lake Refuge and Zia Taqueria will be selling delicacies and full meals throughout the day. And at 6 p.m., the local chapter of Food Not Bombs will serve a free community meal. Local hip-hop band Diabolical Sound Platoon as well as the Stillwater Foundation, Hello Dollface and A Dub Rock Band will provide live music throughout the day.

All this food and music can really inspire us to question which individuals/organizations we have interdependent relationships in our lives. Ponder that, and then meet with your fellow Durangoans at the giant slip ’n’ slide.