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Blumenberg Lectures 2017<address>© WWU</address>
Blumenberg Lectures 2017
© WWU

"Blumenberg Lectures“: Metaphors of Community Spirit – Contesting Common Ground

International experts will address various social and political issues in the exhibition

The Münster Skulptur Projekte will take place from 10 June to 1 October 2017. As in 2007, the University of Münster (WWU), in cooperation with the artistic directors of the Skulptur Projekte, will present the “Blumenberg Lectures” during the exhibition period. In this series of ten lectures collectively titled Metaphors of Community Spirit – Contesting Common Ground , international experts will address various social and political issues in the exhibition and discuss them from the perspective of their own disciplines.

In 2017, material applications, workshops, research projects and performances will draw attention to social practices and the vital role they play with regard to public space. The artists will examine the implications of “living together”, who the city belongs to, and what forms of community constitute our society. The word “community” in the title of this year’s Blumenberg Lectures alludes to a concept that has been a point of reference for the Skulptur Projekte from the very beginning. Can aesthetic strategies serve to jump-start collective processes or even develop alternative public forums to address today’s current crises? What forms of resistance are required and which of these can serve to project a positive vision which counters the diagnoses of imminent crisis and symptoms of disintegration? What kind of potential do poetry, imagination and fiction possess for other lines of thinking? The Blumenberg Lectures provide the public with the opportunity to engage in thoughtful discussion with scholars of various disciplines on these topics.

Hans Blumenberg, professor at Münster University, was one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. Students and citizens of Münster gathered to listen to his lectures, in which he elucidated his theories on the metaphor as an elementary form of coping with the “absolutism of reality”. His many references to literature and art are just one of many aspects which make his work fascinating to contemporary scholars. The lectures will be held in German and English. Admission is free of charge.

The Blumenberg Lectures 2017 are organised by the University of Münster (WWU) in cooperation with the Münster Skulptur Projekte. They are made possible thanks to the generous support provided by the University Society Münster and the Sparkasse Münsterland Ost.

Further information