Koefoed

Survival of the Beautiful: Art, Science, and Evolution (UK)

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with David Rothenberg and Jay Griffiths

Watershed, Bristol (UK)
16 February 2012, 19.30-20.30

On the 16th of February 2012 David Rothenberg talks with scientists and artists about his new book Survival of the Beautiful, which examines the interplay of beauty, art, and culture in evolution. In it the philosopher and musician Rothenberg deals with the questions, why animals have innate appreciation for beauty and why nature is beautiful.

On the 16th of February the question of how art has influenced science is investigated by him and his guests. Above that, is asked what we can learn from the amazing range of animal aesthetic behaviour about animals and about ourselves. David Rothenberg will be in conversation with writer and commentator Jay Griffiths, whose books include Wild: An Elemental Journey. The event is topped of with music by David Rothenberg and Jaron Lanier and free and open to the public. For further information about the event or in order to book tickets, see http://www.ideasfestival.co.uk/?p=2500

For more information about David Rothenberg: www.davidrothenberg.net and about Jay Griffiths: www.jaygriffiths.com

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Partnering for the Climate: An Artist/Scientist Mixer

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New York, The Noguchi Museum

Sunday, February 12, 2012, 3 pm

In times of climate change and global warming individuals as well as communities are confronted with fragmented, confusing and often overwhelming news and data about these themes. In order to make sense of these facts the largely disconnected linking between art, research and the public has to find a way to spark new relationships and thus make a difference.

Artists and scientists need to partner up and combine science with interpretive media. In a Noguchi Museum event co-sponsored by positive Feedback, artists as well as scientists are invited to initiate new and meaningful relationships regarding climate change.

The event will provide stimulating discussion and time for exchanging with fellow artists, scientists, and community members active in climate change issues in New York City.

For further information see http://www.positivefeedbackusa.org/schedule-of-events/

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Extension of the Call for Papers – Sociology of the Arts – Artistic Practices

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Two months ago we published on our website a call for papers for the next conference of the Research Network Sociology of the Arts, at the European Sociological Association, which will take place in Vienna from 5 to 8 September 2012. The focus of the conference will be on artistic practices. The call for papers is open, not only to sociologists, but also to interdisciplinary researchers from diverse backgrounds.

Many people interested in the conference have asked for the call for papers to be extended. This has been agreed, so the new deadline will be the 19 February 2012.

To look back into our post from November 4th 2011, about the call for papers, please click here.

For more information on the conference please also visit the conference website at: http://www.mdw.ac.at/ESA-Arts-2012

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Conference: Probing the Skin

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From April the 24th to April the 26th 2013 the conference “Probing the Skin: Cultural representations of Our Contact Zone” takes place at the Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena.

The organizers Prof. Caroline Rosenthal and Prof. Dirk Vanderbeke aks for submission of papers including artistic reflections of skin related themes in literature, art, media studies, and anthropology.

The conference aims to bring academics from various disciplines together in order to discuss the role of skin, which has been neglected in the discourse of literature and culture about body and senses in the recent years.

The skin deserves a closer look, as it is the largest organ reacting to sensual stimuli and embodies the border between our inside and outside world. It is able to protect us and at the same time it identifies us. Furthermore it is an indicator for health, age and even for feelings and experiences. The skin can also be inscribed with individual and collective memories and traumata.

Possible themes for submissions are:

Skin as…

  • a medium and surface. Parallels between the skin and a canvas or piece of paper
  • lieux de memoire. Skin as bearing the traces of deliberate or forceful marks
  • a mask and performative space. Skin hides as much as it reveals
  • a contact zone, as the permeable border between inside and outside
  • a third space, as something in-between nature-culture, inside-outside, body-mind
  • a means of inclusion and exclusion
  • a marker for identity and individuality
  • a medium for the senses, for hurt, lust, pain
  • a trophy, an object of value or even currency

Deadline for submissions in English is March 31st, 2012.

Please submit your abstract to one of the organizers:

Prof. Dr. Caroline Rosenthal and Prof. Dr. Dirk Vanderbeke
Institut für Anglistik/Amerikanistik
Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
Ernst-Abbe-Platz 8
07743 Jena
caroline [dot] rosenthal [at] uni-jena [dot] de / vanderbeke [at] t-online [dot] de

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Land Art Generator Initiative design competition

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The Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) aims at designing public art installations that have an additional benefit of large scale clean energy generation. Each sculpture can continuously distribute clean energy into the electrical grid and thus potentially provide power to thousands of homes.

In 2012 the Land Art Generator Initiative holds a design competition for a site within Freshkills Park (the former Fresh Kills Landfill) together with New York City’s Department of Parks & Recreation in New York City.

“At 2,200 acres, Freshkills Park will be almost three times the size of Central Park and the largest park developed in New York City in over 100 years. The transformation of what was formerly the world’s largest landfill into a productive and beautiful cultural destination will make the park a symbol of renewal and an expression of how our society can restore balance to its landscape.

In addition to providing a wide range of recreational opportunities, including many uncommon in the city, the park’s design, ecological restoration and cultural and educational programming will emphasize environmental sustainability and a renewed public concern for our human impact on the earth.” –

FRESHKILLS PARK

LAGI 2012 is an ideas competition to design a site-specific public artwork that combines beauty with utility of generating electricity.
The beauty of the reclaimed landscape and the backdrop of the Manhattan skyline are promising settings for an aesthetic and sustainable urban planning of the area.

The competition is open to everyone. Designers, artists, engineers, architects, landscape architects, university students, urban planners, scientists are encouraged to send their submissions.

For more information and the design brief see http://landartgenerator.org/competition.html

If there are further questions, please send an email to lagi [at] landartgenerator [dot] org.

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

ECOPSYCHOLOGY & NATURAL CHANGE COURSES in 2012

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The purpose of the ecoSelf project is for people to find a sense of ecological identity and based on that to live in ecological balance. In order to find this ecological identity, people have to face the fact that humankind is part of the Earth’s wider ecology, thus stands in constant interdependence with nature. This knowledge can contribute to personal healing because the individual can be healed as part of the larger body of the Earth. Since wild nature seems to provide a powerful context for processes of ecological Self realisation, David Key uses it as a basis for his courses and projects. He provides professional development courses to help people learn how to facilitate ecological Self realisation programmes.

In the following some of his courses and programmes are introduced:

Natural Change for Facilitators

Knoydart (Scotland) 24th – 31st March, 2012

It is a professional development course for those interested in facilitating groups using approaches pioneered on WWF’s Natural Change Project. Natural Change is an outdoor-based experiential programme designed to engage and support leaders for sustainability.

Ecopsychology Distance Learning Programme

16th April – 15th June, 2012
This programme offers a 12 week learning opportunity for those interested in exploring ecopsychology theory. A major part of the learning process will be to help exploring how one might apply ecopsychology to the personal and professional life.

Ecopsychology: experiencing the ecological self

Schumacher College, Devon from May 27- June 1, 2012

Through a series of carefully facilitated outdoor experiences and small group work, this course will help participants experience the ecological Self and ask what it really means to “reconnect with nature”.

Wild Mindfulness

Scotland (Holy Isle) from the 26th June – 2nd July, 2012

This course takes the practice of mindfulness out of the meditation hall and into the wild. Through mindfulness practice and other contemplative work outdoors on the island, the course offers a chance to attend to the deep interconnectedness with the wider ecology.

For more information about the courses and bookings visit http://www.ecoself.net/courses/

Furthermore programme design, mentoring / supervision, and ecopsychology teaching, research and consultancy services are offered, visit www.ecoself.net in order to get more details.

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Open Call 2012: Christiania Researcher in Residence (CRIR)

This post comes to you from Cultura21

The urban Freetown of Christiania exists since forty years now on the disused military base in central Copenhagen. After a long struggle with the Danish state an agreement was reached, after which part of the area has to be bought from the Danish state.
For further information see www.christianiafolkeaktie.dk

Christiania allows experiments with environmental and social ecologies, of loving and learning from mistakes and with the creation of different ways of living together. Almost a thousand people live in Christiania by now. Above that it is visited by millions of guests from all over the world, making it one of Denmark’s top cultural attractions.

The Christiania Researcher in Residence (CRIR) will continue till December 2012, with possibility for prolongation. CRIR offers residency from 1 to 4 weeks for artists and academic researchers with a specific interest in Christiania as an important field of study.

The CRIR projects aim is to involve artists, researchers and academics in an open, critical and reflective dialog around the free town Christiania in Copenhagen. Further a new creative and critical thinking should be generated. Christiania offers a research field of local organization, alternative architecture, lifestyle, culture, sustainable environments, quality of life, democracy and innovation and could generate important knowledge that may inspire a new  thinking of urbanity.

For 2012 applications dealing with the current situation in Christiania are encouraged, but all applications regarding to Christiania are welcomed.

Applications should be sent to: emmerikw [at] tiscali [dot] dk

For more information on the residency an application details see www.crir.net

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Review: Encounter with Giovanni Impastato

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On the 2nd of November 2011 the Sicilian Giovanni Impastato, who fights against the mafia, was invited in Düsseldorf and Cologne, in order to present his book Resistere a Mafiopoli (Resist Mafiopolis) at the Heinrich-Heine-University and at the Filmhaus Cologne. In this book Giovanni Impastato tells the story of his brother Peppino Impastato to the music journalist Franco Vassia (co-editor). Peppino Impastato was an activist in the fight against the mafia and was murdered by the Cosa nostra in 1978. After the death of his older brother Giovanni Impastato went on fighting against the mafia together with his friends and family.

The encounter with Giovanni Impastato, his touching story and his plea for a nonviolent and democratic society have moved the students at the University Düsseldorf as well as the mainly italian audience at the Fimhaus Cologne. After the book presentation of two hours, Giovanni Impastato and his guests continued their conversation with a glass of wine.

The presentation was organised by Prof. Vittoria Borsò and Aurora Rodonò of the Institute for Romance studies at the Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf in cooperation with Cultura21 (Davide Brocchi) and the Filmhaus Cologne.

Links: http://www.peppinoimpastato.com/index.asp and http://www.centroimpastato.it/

This post is also available in: German

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

New eBook available

This post comes to you from Cultura21

The eBook Negatives Menschenbild und Separationsdenken in der modernen Gesellschaft by Davide Brocchi is now available for download as PDF file.

The author deals with the source and the effect of the negative image of humanity and refers therefore to advocates of the negative image of humanity like Niccoló Macchiavelli and Thomas Hobbes. The thought of separation in modern society is dealt with in the eBook.
The author Davide Brocchi works in the field of cultural- and social-scientific research and as a lecturer at the „ecosign Akademie für Gestaltung“ in Cologne. He is the founder of Cultura21, and coordinates Cultura21′s Webmagazine (in German language).

His text is the fourth in the Cultura21 eBooks series on culture and sustainability. Further publications will follow.

Direct download in PDF format: click here

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21