XLE.LIFE NEW TERMS 2026: Banyan Futurisms
In response to a question posed by leading futurist Sohail Inayatullah about other forms of the "Futures Iceberg" which could apply to the Global South, Banyan Futurisms was proposed by artist & futurist Kai (Kari) Altmann as an obvious response, with a focus on South Asia.
The Futures Iceberg is a model for what Sohail calls Causal Layered Analysis--analyzing systems and their effects at deeper, wider and more interconnected levels through multiple lenses of knowing.
A Banyan is a tree native to South Asia that grows in muscly rhizomes, dissolving the boundary between roots and branches, ground and sky, and even from tree to tree. It feels wild, strong, and like it contains an ancient, generative intelligence full of effortless connection. Its collective growth takes over scaffolding, buildings, sidewalks and streets. Multiple trees can merge together creating mega trees, and these zones are considered especially sacred.
Banyan Futurisms are still being defined, and Kai purposefully leaves it open and slowly evolving to encourage those from the Global South and especially South Asia to join in their definition and evolution.
It's easy to see them as an extension of interconnected, holistic and "wild" futurisms, and as a symbol for reclaiming space with an ecological edge.
What are Banyan Futurisms? You tell us.
