Sacha Kagan

Symposium:

• Curator of the Symposium

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Sacha Kagan (PhD) is a transdisciplinary researcher of 'cultures of sustainability', and art sociologist, based at Leuphana University (Lüneburg, Germany), founding coordinator at Cultura21 (an international network for cultures of sustainability), and active member of several other networks in scientific and artistic fields. He is the author of the internationally received book Art and Sustainability (transcript Verlag, 2011). In his search for cultures of sustainability, Sacha came to the understanding that aesthetics of complexity provides a rich cultural-creative key to the search process of sustainability-transformation. His current research interests include the roles of artists in urban “anthropo-scenes” as spaces of possibilities, and the contributions of queer- and BDSM-oriented practice and theory to aesthetics of complexity.

Curator of the Symposium

EMBODYING ENLIVENMENT – Queer, SM and Eco-Sexual Perspectives

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.

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