Ecological Collapse: art, research, activism – how to shape alliances

Debate at Stenersenmuseet, Oslo, Norway, Thursday September 25th 2014, 17:00

What role does art have in today’s communication of research? Concerned Artists Norway and think tank Tau invite to conversation and debate: Ecological collapse: Art, research and activism – how to create alliances? Scientists, artists and activists have in common to ask questions, to see new opportunities and to expand people’s perception. When nature and society face major crises as we do today – how can research and art work together to contribute to public education? Both activists and artists can often uses data and material from research in their expression.  The artists are perhaps those who go furthest in processing the research material through intuition, personal experiences, associations, fantasies and visions. Does a such as free use of research data challenges ethics and accountability? On the other hand, many scholars experience that a simplification and popularization dissolve the complex image of their research. The debate starts by challenging all the speakers with the kew word COLLAPSE.

Speakers:

Anna Blix, activist, biologist and advisor of the Cooperation Council for biodiversity. Hartvig C. Christie, research, marine biology, NIVA . Sacha Kagan, associate researcher, Leuphana University, Lueneburg, Institute for Sociology and cultural organization. Erland Kiøsterud, author. Johanna Zwaig, performance artist.

The event is a collaboration between the National Science Week, the think tank Tau and Concerned Artists Norway.

Exhibition

The Stenersen museum also shows until December 14th the exhibition “Through Nature – A Rough Guide”: museum webpage

By Sacha Kagan

Research Associate at the ISCO - Institute of Sociology and Cultural Organization (ISKO - Institut für Soziologie und Kulturorganisation), Leuphana University Lueneburg, Sacha Kagan founded the International level of Cultura21, Network for Cultures of Sustainability, as well as the International Summer School of Arts and Sciences for Sustainability in Social Transformation (ASSiST). The focus of his research and cultural work lies in the trans-disciplinary field of arts and (un-)sustainability. Doctor in Philosophy (Leuphana University Lueneburg) with a thesis on the subject of culture, the arts and sustainability under the perspective of complexity ; M.A. in Cultural Economics (Erasmus University Rotterdam) ; and Graduate of Sciences Po Bordeaux (political sciences). For Cultura21, Sacha is also coordinating the eBooks series, the regular updates on our multi-lingual website, the English section of our webmagazine and the work of our Lueneburg-based interns.