I established THINKtent to foster stimulating dialogue, playful exchange and unexpected provocations – not didactic lectures or strict instruction. I designed THINKtent to be global and local, to tread lightly and float across borders. – Natasha Cica, Director, Kapacity.org
THINKtent is an innovative facilitation and engagement service that is ideal for events engaging experts and/or the wider public, conferences, team-based professional development and more.
THINKtent is available to clients on a fee-for-service basis. It is trademarked in Australia, the EU and the USA in the categories of exhibitions/cultural events/education and publications/teaching materials.
THINKtent is a premade and portable 5 x 5 metre canvas belltent. In each location THINKtent appears, the interior is curated to reflect and express distinctive qualities of a specific place and its people. THINKtent places are limited to fifteen people per session. Places can be made available to participants by invitation, reservation or walk-in participation.
Each session generally runs for 60-90 minutes – exploring a programmed topic and featuring high profile experts in their field.
Kapacity.org director Natasha Cica facilitates all THINKtent sessions, taking handwritten notes and still photographs for future report publication (print and/or online), if that is required.
No recording devices or phones are allowed, so that participants can engage in meaningful dialogue – away from the relentless distractions of smartphones and social media. Books, poems, songs, food, costume and other cultural artefacts are welcome.
Exit interviews from THINKtent are invited and beneficial, and may be recorded and broadcast.
Each presentation and performance of THINKtent involves a number of sessions per day. Topics and experts are selected in consultation with the client commissioning THINKtent – clients and locations to date have included public arts festivals, corporate conferences, museums, educational symposia and private businesses.
In Europe, THINKtent is now a key engagement tool for the Human Cities/Challenging the City Scale project,in partnership with Belgrade Design Week – initiated by Belgium-based Pro Materia, and co-funded from 2014-18 by the Creative Europe Program of the European Union.
THINKtent also has been delivered as part of the Euro MBA program at Audencia Nantes School of Management in France; at the Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade, in collaboration with Belgrade Design Week and with the support of the Australian Embassy in Belgrade; as part of the Danube Dialogues engaging curators and other creative economy professionals from Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Balkans and beyond; at an educational forum in Vojvodina for young people advancing the legacy of inventor Nikola Tesla, with a special focus on the intersection between science, the humanities and social engagement; and in Belgrade in collaboration with local entrepreneurs in the agricultural, culinary and creative economy sectors.
In Australia, THINKtent has been delivered at the Sydney Opera House for global organisation Advance, where it was profiled by public broadcaster SBS; at the pathfinding Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania; and at community-focused events in a diverse range of urban, regional and rural centres. THINKtent premiered in Tasmania’s Ten Days on the Island international arts festival in 2013, winning good practice recognition in the 2013 Creative Partnerships Australia awards.