Deeptime Southwest

DeeptimeSouthwest (DTSW) is a multi-disciplinary collaborative, expanding the public’s ability to think in long timeframes –deeptime –and to increase our capacity to imagine the future.

Never before has our ability to think outside human timeframes been more important.

All DeeptimeSW activities include temporal aspects: durational, seasonal, topical experiences of time. Operating at a bioregional scale and focusing on temporal concepts, DTSW operates outside western paradigms and is therefore culturally inclusive.

The core activities of DTSW are thematic Walk About It events, free and open to the public, to experience significant natural and cultural regional features such as geology, plant communities, and archeological sites. Participatory group walks promote embodied understanding of place, and cross-cultural solidarity through shared experiences.

These walks are loosely programmed around the scientific acronym GAMAKA, GA (billion years ago), MA (million years ago), KA (thousand years ago). The Prickly Pear cactus, for example, Opuntia ssp., evolved in the Miocene, 23-8 MA, and therefore a Cactus Walk is a MA event. Led by an organization such as The Cactus Rescue Project, a Cactus Walk grounds participants in the NM landscape and links living plant species to their ancient origins. Culinary Prickly Pear or “Nopal” is considered a “Future Foods” –highly nutritious yet requiring minimal water, extending the topics of a Cactus Walk backward and forward in deeptime.

In collaboration with local and national organizations DeeptimeSW will host Talk About It public lectures and intimate gatherings on these themes.

DTSW downloadable pamphlets, It’s About Time will document the Walk About It and Talk About It programs.