Aboagora – Between Arts and Sciences is an annual symposium that brings together various aspects of academia, arts and society. The event offers a forum for researchers, artists and the public to establish new dialogues and collaborations. In 2019, Aboagora is launching a new five-year thematic plan for 2019–2023 under the title “The Five Rings”. The theme for Aboagora 2019, to be held at the Sibelius Museum in Turku on August 21–23, is “Earth”.
The title refers to The Book of Five Rings, written in 1645, by Miyamoto Musashi (宮本 武蔵, c. 1584–June 13, 1645). He was a Japanese swordsman, philosopher, writer, and rōnin – a samurai without a master. Near the end of his life Musashi retreated to live as a hermit in a cave, to meditate and write a manual of kenjutsu, Japanese swordsmanship, and martial arts. This practical book extends towards a philosophy of life, aiming at simplicity and no-nonsense. The Book of Five Rings (五輪書, Go Rin no Sho) is divided into five books, each examining a different element of battle (Earth, Water, Wind, Fire, and Void) – just as there are different physical elements in life in Eastern religions.
The Earth – planet Tellus, on which we live – is a fundamental aspect of human life, spanning the past as well as our present situation, and our hopes for the future. For the Ancient Greeks, Gaia represented a personification of the Earth, the caring Mother who ended the primordial Chaos and manifested herself as the perpetual home of all mortals. Similar depictions of the Earth as a caring parent are found in numerous mythologies from all over the world. In modern physics, the lure of Gaia goes under the name of gravity. Our relationship to the element of earth has renewed its relevance and urgency today as the traces of past utilitarian and industrial centuries, combined with human greed, indifference and exploitation, have driven Gaia to despair and to the brink of collapse.
Aboagora consists of keynote lectures, workshops, and diverse artistic interventions. This year’s presentations will discuss the concrete historicity of earth and forests, examine underground ecosystems and study identity, belonging and being in place – and much more.
Registered participants will have access to all symposium presentations and will be offered coffee/tea during breaks and a Closing Reception on Friday, August 23. The programme and registration for Aboagora Symposium can be found at aboagora.fi/programme.
Registration Fee 40 € (Student Fee for MA and Ph.D. Students 25 €)
Registration for Aboagora Symposium runs until August 9!
Aboagora is a joint effort by the University of Turku, Åbo Akademi University, the Åbo Akademi University Foundation and Arts Academy of Turku University of Applied Sciences.
Programme
WEDNESDAY 21.8.
10.30–12 AGORA: Sandra Swart (Stellenbosch University): Animal rights, whites and rites? Multi-species engagement in Africa
13.30-15 Workshop I: Earth, Trees and Cultural Change
15.30–17 Workshop II: Kolmas Tila – Tredje Rummet: The Romantic Mind
19 – AGORA: mirko nikolić: the arcane of terran reproduction
THURSDAY 22.8.
10-11.30 AGORA: Tino Mager (TU Delft): Earth: the illusion of permanence
13-14.30 Workshop III: Religion and Gardening
18 – Fern Orchestra: Vox Herbārium – Plant Series
FRIDAY 23.8.
10–11.30 AGORA: Pauliina Feodoroff (screenwriter & director, Samí activist): Skäädsual- Skää´dsuâl- What is the Birth Story of This Age/ What Form Can an Atonement Take
13–14.30 Workshop VI: Earth, Place, and Rootedness in Migrants’ Lives and Deaths
15-16 Workshop VII: Raimo Saarinen: Soil as sculpture material and subject