CRITICAL TIMES. PART II: ECOLOGIES OF RELATION

Workshop at Erasmus School of Philosophy, Rotterdam, April 11-13, 2024.

The workshop Critical Times. Part II: Ecologies of Relation brought together Post-Doc’s, PhD’s and advanced MA students from the humanities, social science, as well as arts and design to engage in a discussion about critical times and materialities, postcolonial and posthuman critique, non-European perspectives, and notions of »deep time« of materialities. Critical Times. Part II: Ecologies of Relation unfolded a critical conversation, contesting linear conceptions of time, reductionist notions of materiality, and teleological solutionism, by focusing on ecologies and relations. Either term, ecology and relation, has received much attention over the last decade, especially in the arts, design, and humanities. Both emphasize the intersection of different domains of knowledge, media and practice to understand and navigate the challenges of an increasingly complex present. With the workshop, we aimed to critically address and resituate the multi-faceted dimensions of both through in-depth and creative formats.

Similar to the first iteration of the workshop Critical Times. Part I: Multiple Matter, which took place in Berlin on November 17+18, 2023, the workshop hosted four inputs by invited contributors, followed by a third day to collectively reflect and envision potential forms for continuation. Our endeavour was to create formats that are unconventional, playful, and non-hierarchical and hopefully undermine classic forms of representation and knowledge consumption. We asked our invited contributors to facilitate experimental situations in order to take time and practice together, including the sharing of food, moments of rest, as well as deep engagement and laughter.

Invited Guests: Lara Almarcegui, Clara Balaguer & Vishnu Vardhani Rajan, Katherine G. Sammler, Femke Snelting & Martino Morandi

Critical Times II took place from April 11 — 13, 2024 at Buitenplaats Brienenoord and RASL Rotterdam Arts and Science LAB in Rotterdam

Co-organized with Christoph Brunner (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and Robert Stock (HU Berlin)

Critical Times. Part I: Multiple Matter: https://www.matters-of-activity.de/en/activities/11626/critical-times-part-i-multiple-matter

Hosting Universities: Erasmus School of Philosophy, Erasmus University Rotterdam | Cluster of Excellence Matters of Activity, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Images: Rahel Kesselring