AVENIR INSTITUTE is an artistic think tank interrogating the politics and aesthetics of anticipation.
In general, I try to distinguish between what one calls the future and avenir. The future is that which – tomorrow, later, next century – will be. There’s a future which is predictable, programmed, scheduled, foreseeable. But there is a future, avenir (to come), which refers to someone who comes whose arrival is totally unexpected... So if there is a real future beyond this other known future, it’s avenir in that it’s the coming of the Other when I am completely unable to foresee their arrival. Jacques Derrida, 2002
excerpt from "Derrida", a 2002 American documentary film directed by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering Kofman about the French philosopher Jacques Derrida. It premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival before being released theatrically on October 23, 2002.