The SNF project “Mediating the Ecological Imperative: Formats and Modes of Engagement” is a joint research project of the Institutes of Art History, American Studies and Social Anthropology at the University of Bern. In addition, a collaboration with the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) is being realized. Research focuses on the visual politics of climate change, the role of ecological issues in art and literature, and social engagement with the environment in indigenous cultures. The philosopher Hans Jonas coined the term “ecological imperative” in his book Das Prinzip Verantwortung (The Principle of Responsibility, 1979), in which he formulated an ecological maxim for action based on Immanuel Kant’s “Categorical Imperative”: “Act in such a way that the effects of your actions are compatible with the permanence of genuine human life on earth”. → Read more about the project
- Prof. Dr. Peter J. Schneemann (Lead, University of Bern)
- Prof. Dr. Gabriele Rippl (University of Bern)
- Prof. Dr. Michaela Schäuble (University of Bern)
- Prof. Dr. Peter Krieger (2021-22) (National Autonomous University of Mexico)
- Dr. Toni Hildebrandt (Advanced Postdoc and Coordinator, University of Bern)
- → See the whole project team
Peter J. Schneemann will give the introductory lecture at the conference Vermittlung heute. Museumsvermittlung zwischen Inklusion, Partizipation und Teilhabe [all lectures in German], organized by Deutsche Kongress at the Historisches Museum Frankfurt am Main. Lectures by Annabelle Hornung (Museum für Kommunikation Nürnberg), Eda Göknar (İstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts), Mona Jas (Kunsthochschule Berlin Weißensee), Anja Zenner (Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin), Barbara Welzel (University Dortmund), Wencke Maderbacher (Moesgaard Museum), and Stephanie Sonntag (Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud).
The workshop Divine Agency brings debates about more-than-human agency in anthropology and beyond into conversation with reflections in the anthropology of religion about the ethico-onto-epistemology of the divine. The workshop brings international renowned anthropologists of religion together to reflect upon questions such as: How do people in different fields of study conceptualize transcendent influence on (more-than) human co-habitation? How does an acting divinity “become real” for people? How can emic conceptualizations of divine agency be studied ethnographically? Which conclusions can be drawn for the conceptualization of agency and the divine through exploring the compound word of divine agency? In how far is divine agency comparable to human agency or the agency of things? What are political and ethical underpinnings of divine agencies? By pondering about these and related questions, new directions in conceptualizing divine agency are anticipated. With lectures by Michaela Schäuble, Valentina Napolitano, Agnieszka Halemba, Anna-Lena Wolf, and Maya Mayblin.
The artist Akira Takayama has conceived the tour-performance Tokyo Heterotopia as a device to lead the audience to a "heterotopia," a place in Tokyo where traces of memories of former Asian students, immigrants, and refugees still remain. Through a sightseeing app (in collaboration with Tokyo Metro) visitors can listen to readings of “stories that could have been there” spun by poets and novelists. During the past 10 years, projects have also been developed in cities such as Taipei, Abu Dhabi, Riga, Beirut, Athens, and Frankfurt.
After a keynote lecture by Toni Hildebrandt, Eiji Hato (Urban Engineer, Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo), Akira Takayama (Director, Artist, Professor of the Graduate School of Film and New Media, Tokyo University of the Arts), and Chiaki Soma (Art Producer, Associate Professor of Global Art Practice, Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts) will discuss the future possibilities of this project as an example of a sustainable art project that crosses theory and practice.