ABOUT
The company
Mathilda Tham feminist, Earth mind and heartful learning and wisdom company to people and organisations in existential crisis and metamorphosis is imagined with two main aims:
- To contribute to urgent systemic change as quickly and impactfully as possible by being good company – a helpful friend – to people and organisations on their journey of change.
- To be an (imperfect) example of and share insights from working from a feminist, Earth mind and heartful perspective.
The company is imagined by Mathilda Tham. For each project we put together teams from our diverse, intergenerational and multidisciplinary international network.
How we work
We work with metadesign approaches and frameworks. Metadesign has been developed to respond to complex challenges that require collaboration across different disciplines and sectors. Metadesign connects the tangible product and process with the systems and infrastructures it is embedded in, as well as the values, norms and belief systems that guide what we do and think – often without us even recognising it. In our work, we create metadesign processes that join up individuals’ needs and dreams with those of the organisation, as well as the global needs for social justice and stable earth systems. Metadesign is emergent which means that the responses to a challenge grow from the particular situation, place and community – which creates diverse, unique, relevant and exciting ideas.
Our work is science based and draws on, for example, systems thinking, resilience thinking, futures studies, change theory, education science, action research and design thinking. Our work uses a range of artistic approaches and creative methods including simple prototype making, acting out scenarios, outdoors spatial mapping, cooking, creative writing, drawing, painting, embroidery, meditation and singing. These approaches work great together with more conventional analytical tasks and support teams to feel safe together and to come up with ideas outside the ordinary.
Our clients
Ultimately Earth and all species including humans are our clients. We have been collaborating with a broad range of stakeholders, including industry (fashion, housing, forest, furniture, car, food, pr and advertising) and young entrepreneurs, unions, NGOs, authorities, media, schools and higher education, research institutions, activists and citizen groups.
Mathilda Tham
Hello!
I am Mathilda Tham. Thanks for coming to see me.
Photo Sandra Freij, 2020.
Every morning at 8am an alarm goes off on all my devices. It says ‘freedom – freeify’ (I made that one up). It is there to remind me of the incredible and exhilarating fact that I am free – and the responsibility I have to use this freedom to contribute to the health, happiness and safety of our world. At the same time as I am free, I am also part of a beautiful and messy entanglement that spans all species and all people, far back and (hopefully) far into the future. And from this tiny point right here and right now, I have the opportunity to contribute.
For the past two decades and a half, I have been working with systems change.
Starting out as a fashion designer and realising that adequate change would not be possible from within existing models of working, I continued with a PhD in sustainability, systems thinking, futures studies and design. I found freedom and approaches to make change in the field of metadesign. I think of this as a license to move design thinking and doing upstream, to the key questions of how we want to live our lives, what stories that can help us keep in touch with the conditions of life, the purpose of organisations.
This has led me to envision and dream, lead and co-create pioneering design educations, a global fashion activist network, a new logic for the fashion sector, and cutting edge research projects. The work has influenced initiatives in industry, education, policy making and communication. I am professor in design at Linnaeus University, Sweden and affiliated with Goldsmiths, University of London. I do talks and conversations with large audiences, contribute to strategy and visions through board work and high level dialogue, as well as hold small and intimate workshops. My work uses a broad range of designerly forms: new rituals and methods, creative writing, performance, singing, cooking, new systems, futures scenarios, recipes, new professional roles, films, books.
Some of the core themes I am working on at the moment are: Post-paradigmatic explorations – how we can come up with ideas from beyond dominant ways of thinking. Trauma, mental health and ecological health – how healing of individuals and communities is connected with healing our planet. New professional roles and ways to organise work. Learning, unlearning and relearning for lives together within Earth’s limits.
I am passionate about collaboration and have worked with big industry, governance, media, as well a citizen and activist groups. I enjoy authentic explorations into how needs of diverse organisations, people, species can be met in creative and caring ways. I am especially interested in how we can ‘stay with the trouble’ (Haraway, 2016) of tricky and sometimes awkward and painful conversations that we need to have, to have a future. I take solace and inspiration from many places, including the amazing writings of black feminist poet Audre Lorde, and founder of engaged Buddhism Thích Nhất Hạnh. It’s probably fair to say I’m a polymath – happy to straddle art and science, to connect global challenges with individual and communities’ experience, and confident enough to be in unchartered territories.
I am based in Sweden and the UK, and enjoy many collaborations and friendships across the world. I have two daughters who teach me (in addition to speaking English and Swedish correctly, coping with headlice and many other things) to 1. live for the long-term futures beyond my own lifespan and 2. the importance of play when we work with the very serious and often sad questions. I love learning – currently singing, figure skating, ballet and walking football.
Now, I’d love to learn with you. Please get in touch so we can explore interesting potential synergies!
The website design
The website is designed by Hanna Bergman.
The main font is DIN-dong by ByeByeBinary / Clara Sambot.