Golden Ratio — Game for Wisdom — Animal Wisdom — Projects — Soul Circle
Each year, the Quest for Wisdom foundation develops an intercultural programme around a socially relevant theme to realize its goal of promoting the art of living as global citizens. We present the Golden Ratio programmes both through various (artistic and digital) media, and in live encounters.
Honorary member Dirk De Wachter
Fresh from my liver bubbles the feeling that these initiatives are essential for a society, bottom-up encounters, where humanity appears in difference.
Warmheartedly,
Personal communication, 4th of April 2019
Global Citizenship of the Street: 2023-2024
In our Report on an experiment “Global Citizenship of the Street” the development of our QfWf-project has been described as an triptych in three phases. The first phase consisted of remembering the colonial past of slavery by means of research and essays by Fred de Haas. This author adds historical and intercultural background to the deplorable facts, as well as the beauty of Caribean poetry and music, reflecting the transforming intercultural identities. Josee Tesser made drawings on the different themes, with a touch of sharpness and humour. The result is a book to be published in 2025 as (Post) Koloniale wa(a)r(d)en as a coproduction with Garant Publishers. The collecting constructive ingrediënts and the world dreams of Global Citizenship by the
QfWf-Soul circle with painting, singing, dancing and other (inter)cultural expressions was documented in the book Amor Mundi (phase 2). Another ingredient we have explored, consists of Art Dialogues around the board-game Know Thyself, interculturally developed in try outs into Amor Fati, game and book, also highlighting the Wheel on the intercultural art of living. These books helped to develop an intercultural programme to be shared with social groups and partnering organizations in an experimental way. It resulted in two events in the fall of 2024: communication through artistic expression with the Ukrainian refugees, living at the Regenbooggroep and for global citizens of the street in the Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam, located in Weesp and Reigersbos (fase 3).
In this way the QfWf-project group presented Art as a means to wonder and organized a travelling exhibition around Amor Mundi and the presentation of the book and game Amor Fati ― playful wisdom for the cosmopolis. In 2025 more stories, practices and dreams of global citizens will be gathered and published on The Golden Ratio. The intercultural artistic programme was a cocreation with collaborative partners Culturele Droomwevers and Curinesa, autonomous artists, like Camile Smeets — who made together with the QfWf-projectgroup a ceramic statue of the Rainbow Paradise Bird with Cosmic Egg — 
as well as with the indigenous Surinames Cultural Group in Weesp Wehpokamanong, who is dedicated to transfer the cultural heritage to younger generations.
Animal wisdom-programme ― narratives for both young and old
The Fonds voor Zuidoost has — in collaboration with the Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds — provided the QfWf in 2020 a small grant to support her programme on intercultural storytelling Animal Wisdom, espcially during the Corona lockdown:
“Fund Amsterdam Southeast is unanimously enthusiastic about your project. Although they think the project is ambitious, they find it a worthy initiative. They like how you use this project to introduce children to the multicolored multicultural society.
In the eyes of the neighbourhood committee, you are making an important intercultural contribution that can be used in many schools.
There is confidence in the organization and in the lessons that have already been developed.
They welcome your digitization and wish you good luck.”
The Interculturele Storytelling Programma was to be presented as an intercultural lesson for students in which animal stories from the four corners of the world were gathered. Its goal was to transform examples of the old storytelling traditions into educative artistic forms for actual contexts and the young generation, in order to let them discover both the beauty of cultural diversity, as well as transcultural paterns between the divers storytelling and wisdom traditions. During the Corona lockdown the artistically developed materials were gathered on a specially designed website Animal Wisdom. On it you wil find Animal Stories from different cultures, such as the Great Goose Rap from the Buddhist Jatakatamala tradition, as well as information on their (inter) cultural and historical context.
An Intercultural lesson
The intercultural lesson on Animal Wisdom serves as an example and intercultural perspective, to be developed further into educative modules for (world-) citizenship; both for primary and secondary schools. The educative materials are presented through different media and arts, to stimulate the imagination and to show how narratives and symbols of animal wisdom, such as the intelligence of the octopus as well as of the fox and of the spider Anansi, transcends cultural borders. The intercultural Animal Wisdom programme shows colourful unity wthin the diversity of cultural traditions.
The project was presented in 2021 in the Library of Amsterdam South-East with two workshops with an introductory and follow up programme:
Workshop 1: When Animals Narrate Cultures …
Workshop 2: Animals as Wisdom Seekers
The introductory workshop can be downloaded for free as an Intercultural Lesson on Animal Wisdom and the advanced workshop can be given by QfWf-professionals, contributing to “Citizenship, cultural diversity and inclusion” as described in the report on the QfWf-storytelling-Project-Animal WIsdom.
Animal Wisdom — e-books
Worldwide animal stories convey both wisdom about animal coexistence, promoting ecological awareness, as well as serving as a mirror for human society. As such they call attention to issues of diversity and inclusion in education. To this end, there has been a spinn of to the intercultural animal wisdom teaching module, resulting in the QfWf-series of (e)books. The Animal Wisdom series is generic in scope so that it can be applied in many educational contexts – such as secondary education and (higher) education. An Animal Wisdom game is under construction.
Purchase of educative materials
One hundred percent of the money raised by the sale of all of the products will be used in realising our upcoming QfWf educational projects, all of which are non-profit and run by volunteers.
Game for wisdom ― the Wheel of the intercultural art of living
The first project of the Quest for Wisdom consisted of the development of the Game for Wisdom in the year of her foundation in 2016. The core of this game was the Wheel of the intercultural art of living in order to categorize the mythical stories, symbols and proverbs from all corners of the world without ranking them in a way suggesting cultural superiority.
To play the game, you are invited to explore your vision on happiness by means of seven questions, confronting you with met different visions from cultures from all corners of the world. As a result the Wheel of the intercultural art of living is leading you to one of the 20 stories and 80 symbols that are integrated in this game.
QfWf-podcasts en more on The Golden Ratio
De QfWf presents on her digitale platform The Golden Ratio Podcast Every year the QfWf-theme on the intercultural art of living is discussed with an expert in the field or other global citizens with wild hair in an authentic way.
In order to spread the Quest for Wisdom mission on global citizenship, more digital and educative means are developed to reach the younger generation, such as games and animaties. Our goal is to enhance opennes for cultural diversity and inclusion as part and parcel of the 21e-century capabilites in education.
A concept for an (digital, hybrid or face-to-face) game, introducing the intercultural storytelling programme Animal wisdom — Animal Wisdom-pranks.
Due to the application for funding from the KNAW Pilotfonds Wetenschapscommunicatie door Wetenschappers the QfWF is building a network with researchers from the University Leiden and the African Research Institute of Óbudai University in Budapest, Hongary.
The Universiteit Leiden has published on the QfWf-projects in her online news. On the Annual Meeting Days of 2020 and 2021 more Animal Wisdom content is developed with storytelling, dance, play, music and art.
Please, take a look at the QfWf-video-channel with animations and videos.
Update 2025-02