‘Welcome to Postnormal Times’. The first words inviting visitors into The Postnormal Times Madani Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur (26 May–10 November 2024) are the same as the title of the 2010 paper by Ziauddin Sardar. The seminal text initiated the development of a future oriented approach to address the changing nature of change. Postnormal times thinking sees the speed, scale, scope, and simultaneity (4Ss) of our globalised, digital, networked environment drive increasingly complex, contradictory, and chaotic (3Cs) accelerating change. This perspective situates our era between the no longer and the not yet. Uncertainty and ignorance follow, characteristically affecting actions and choices available to us in our personal or spiritual lives, in our lives as citizens, and in policymaking too. To orient and move forward in such an enigmatic present, managerial and solutionist mindsets must be shed. The real task in front of us is to jointly navigate the massive challenges people, communities, nations, and organisations face; and to negotiate our way towards a more equitable and just tomorrow. To continue as normal is to put ourselves, our communities, cultures, and the planet itself at peril. We will have to count on diversity, on values, and on imagination if we are to make it through.
The Postnormal Times Madani Exhibition, curated by Ziauddin Sardar and C Scott Jordan, organised by the Centre for Postnormal Policy and Futures Studies.
Designed by Effusion LLP, installed by Rock, Paper, Scissors Sdn Bhd.
Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur
26 May 2024 onwards
The exhibition is divided in three parts to bring these ideas across in an accessible and engaging manner. The opening section highlights the confounding realities of postnormal phenomena, some of the major issues we face today: from misinformation and the AI revolution to genetic manipulation, climate catastrophe, the impacts of the covid pandemic, and degrading governance. Next, the exhibition offers a lens through which we may more clearly discern and understand what is really going with a view on enabling mutual work towards a preferable state of affairs. The third and final section of the show presents how postnormal times thinking informs the values driven policy of the current government of Malaysia, the SCRIPT/MADANI framework and plan for reform, a compass for action in the present based on six central values: sustainability, care and compassion, respect, innovation, prosperity, and trust.
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