A collective reflection on the ability of objects and design to contribute to survival and protection against disasters, based on an examination of the phenomenon of “preppers”.
Do you believe that energy independence, sustainable farming, food autonomy, a self-reliant lifestyle, local networks and a culture of mutual support and altruism are vital to a future worth living? If so, you are, at least in part, a prepper. Preppers are convinced that our world is doomed. They believe in the imminent and inevitable collapse of all our systems and, consequently, of society itself. However, instead of allowing fear to paralyse them, they adopt a coping strategy that restores their sense of control over the uncontrollable: they actively prepare for how to survive the collapse and how to build a new world order afterwards. We Will Survive brings together the views of theorists, researchers, designers and preppers. The book explores the diverse mindsets and wide-ranging lifestyles of the prepper movement which was once considered marginal, but has now become a cultural phenomenon around the globe.
Published on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition at MUDAC, Lausanne, in 2024-2025.
Edited by Jolanthe Kugler and Anniina Koivu.
Texts by Patrick Gyger, Andrea Alberto Dutto, Noam Toran, Yassine Salihine, Eva Horn, Rebecca Solnit, Silvia Berger.
