Artifacts from the future make the intangible, tangible

History museums exhibit artifacts from the past to help give visitors insights into periods of time and cultures they might not otherwise understand. In Connections to the Future: Illustrating Liberatory Education Artifacts, we share artifacts from the future to help people imagine liberatory education futures.

Artifacts from the future can be everyday objects, such as a picture, a piece of clothing or a traffic sign. They can represent specific, concrete details about the future. They help people see and feel how the changes that we are experiencing today could translate into new ways of doing things.

The artifacts in Connections to the Future: Illustrating Liberatory Education Artifacts were co-created with people from different walks of life and different spaces in education. The discussions they will spark can be similarly cross-cutting in whom they reach, creating room for questions like:

• Who might benefit from the artifact and who might be harmed?
• What might the tradeoffs of the artifact be?
• What implications might the artifact present for you, your community and for education?