Symposium 2016

EMBODYING ENLIVENMENT – Queer, SM and Eco-Sexual Perspectives

 Sacha Kagan
Curator of the Symposium

 Symposium Flyer - Download 1,3 MB

In an age where the modern myths of Mastery and Control have started to crumble down, the rediscovery of the body, of one & many ecology/ecologies, and of intelligence beyond the narrowly rational intellectual realm, is opening up new perspectives for transformation of individuals and society.

Corporeal practices allow us to learn through embodiment, whether they are sexual, gender-related and/or otherwise exploring new territories of self and others. But how do these practices relate to existing social order? How far do they maintain the status quo, titillate social change, or even maybe foster deeper social transformation?

This symposium will explore some alternative cultures in their relations to mainstream cultures. It will investigate individual practices and temporary communities. The guest speakers will introduce different approaches and perspectives, such as Queer, BDSM, Phenomenological Animism, Queer Ecologies, Eco-Sexuality, Metahumanism, and the philosophy of Enlivenement. We will exchange and explore together how knowing and making worlds with the body, rather than ‘against’ the body, relates to philosophical, political and civilizational questions about the kind of society we want to become.

By sharing insights and reflections at the Xplore symposium alongside the Xplore Festival, we invite you to enter in a fruitful reflective dialogue with creative embodied practice, such as the artistic and practice-based insights from the workshops and performances at Xplore 2016.

Each speaker will be giving her or his lecture/intervention twice, over the duration of the symposium. The symposium will be concluded with a panel discussion among speakers and with the audience. Please note the language (English or German) in which each session is conducted.

Panel discussion on the topic with the speakers under the guidance of the curator: Saturday 8 p.m. in the Boersensaal (English)

The Speakers:

Andreas Weber	Caffyn Jesse	Cate Sandilands	Elizabeth Wagner	Jaime del Val	Robin Bauer	Thomas Burø
Poetics of the Flesh	Queer Embodiment	Queering Communities: Becoming (With) Plants	Strategies for (self)normalization in sadomasochism	Metabody	Transgression, transformation, exuberant possibilities	Our Sad Contempt for Powerlessness
Fri 11:00h - German	Fri 16:00h - English	Fri 20:00h - English	Sat 13:00h - German	Sat 16:00h - English	Fri 13:00h - English	Sun 18:00h - English
Sat 18:00h - English	Sat 11:00h - English	Sun 13:00h - English	Sun 16:00h - German	Sun 11:00h - English	Fri 18:00h - English