Berlin is made of a thousand things: buildings, streets, places, parks, canals. Nothing of it is natural in the sense that everything is formed and influenced by the humans living here. In fact the core premise of the Anthropocene thesis is: Nature as we know it is a concept that belongs to the past. Humanity forms nature.
However fascinating this thesis might be, I am way more intrigued by the event which is taking starting tonight at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt. Read more about it after the jump.
The “Anthropocene” is the new geological “age of mankind” as proposed by the Earth sciences. Popularized by Nobel Prize winner Paul J. Crutzen around the turn of the millenium, the term now stands for one of the most trailblazing scientific concepts of the present. The transdisciplinary Anthropocene Project explores this concept, using research and presentation methods from the arts and sciences. If the opposition between humanity and nature is now suspended, how do we change our perspectives and perception? Is it still possible to think in concepts like “artificial” and “natural?” What does it mean for our anthropocentric understanding and our future if nature is man-made? mankind?
All this questions will be targeted at the opening weekend of the Project from Thursday 10 to Sunday 13. Read the whole program here. You can join singular events or attend the whole weekend with just one ticket.
THE ANTHROPOCENE PROJECT. AN OPENING
10.01.2013 – 13.01.2013
All events simultaneous translation German-English
Haus der Kulturen der Welt
John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10
10557 Berlin – Germany
www.hkw.de
