Postcards from the Future

New York, San Fransisco, Berlin, Yerevan. These are the cities where Matt Buccelli, a US-born history tour guide, has given his workshop Postcards from the Future. At the workshops, Matt connects past, present and future by giving the participants a paper, a pen and freedom to envision how the world will look in 100 years.

But let’s take a step back – how did Matt, who is passionate about history, end up giving workshops focusing on the future? 

At the start of the 20th century, artists in France were also imagining how the world might look in 100 years. They envisioned the year 2000and the drawings were presented at the Paris World Expo 1900. During the time, the second industrial revolution was reshaping the world, new technologies were emerging and people were pondering the same questions as we are today – how does the future look like?

At the beginning of each workshop, Matt shares this story and shows drawings made by the French artists. You might see postcards from people playing croquet at the bottom of an ocean but also an ”electric scrubbing” device that we today call a vacuum cleaner. Past and present are linked stronger than we sometimes might think and Matt wants to highlight this importance to the audience. However, the future also depends on the present and after having a look at the history, it is time for participants to get their hands dirty imagining how the world will look in 100 years. 

The year 2119 – How does it look like? 

Matt has already given his workshop 8 times; in the US, Germany, and Armenia. His audience has been a combination of adult groups as well as teenagers at local schools. Many current issues and trends can be seen in the postcards from both adults and teenagers. You can see optimistic drawings of how humankind found a solution for climate change or created a teleportation device next to more pessimistic ones where technology has destroyed communication skills and the earth has become uninhabitable.

Matt points out that the drawings from teenagers from different countries do not notably differ from each other – students in each place are concerned about issues like climate change and technology and this doesn’t change. Still, people do also come from different backgrounds with different kinds of experiences and this he has mostly noticed from the questions he has gotten from his audiences. In Armenia, the teenagers interviewed Matt and were highly interested to get to know this American living in Berlin, visiting Armenia, and giving history lessons.

Inspiration for Postcards from the Future x8

Matt gave his first Postcards from the Future workshop in 2017 and since then he has given it again and again. He is passionate about history and he sees this as a way to share his knowledge. But why not just give normal history presentations? Matt points out that while he is always lecturing about history to his friends, letting people actively participate is more powerful and engaging.

"It gets more interesting the more I give the workshops," says Matt. At every workshop, he gets to see different ideas about the future coming from people with all different experiences and backgrounds. Also, the workshops have evolved in time as Matt has learned from the audience what is interesting and to what direction to develop the workshop. The one thing that hasn't changed is the joy Matt receives when giving his workshops and meeting new inspiring people and seeing what the think about a topic as mysterious and important as the future. 

For TeachSurfers who are still looking for their thing or thinking about what is a good topic for a workshop, Matt recommends starting with what you are interested in. People get engaged when they see you are engaged and passionate about the topic. Let these people learn with you and get inspired by you with hands-on activities. Share your knowledge with others and inspire yourself as well! 

Follow Matt’s ongoing TeachSurfing project here and see how people imagine the world in 100 years!