The Aesthetics of Geopower: Imagining Planetary Histories and Hegemonies

Conference organized by Simon Ferdinand and Colin Sterling | 4 & 5 April 2024, University of Amsterdam

For this two-day conference, sponsored by the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis and Dutch Research Council, scholars are invited to explore how the human and nonhuman forces shaping and emerging from the earth are articulated in art and cultural practice.

Keynote Speaker:

Federico Luisetti (University of St. Gallen, author of Nonhuman Subjects: An Ecology of Earth-Beings, Cambridge University Press, 2023)

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, Macarena Gómez-Barris is unable to deliver her keynote lecture. Instead, Federico Luisetti will open the conference with his keynote lecture on 4 April. On the morning of 5 April, Elpitha Tsoutsounakis of the Field Studio Geontological Survey will now put on an ochre workshop in the Potgieterzaal, while there will be an opportunity for participants to talk over tea and coffee in the adjoining atrium. This is reflected in the updated program below.

Program

Please find the conference program here.

Livestreams

Links to Zoom livestreams for the proceedings can be found below. Please note that unfortunately we’re only able to offer basic streaming, without an interactive element.

There are links to four livestreams, one for each of the two rooms (the Doelenzaal and Potgieterzaal) on each of the two days.

Streaming will be paused for two presentations, which are indicated below.

Apologies if the streams are disrupted for whatever reason. If that occurs, kindly try the link again in a few minutes; we should have it up and running again.

There’s a maximum of 300 viewers per stream, though it’s unlikely we’ll reach that.

NB. The agenda below adheres to Central European Time

Thursday 4 April

Zoom link, Doelenzaal, Day 1: Zoom link, Potgieterzaal, Day 1: 

https://uva-live.zoom.us/j/85884778078 https://uva-live.zoom.us/j/81890314360

Opening Remarks (09:00–19:15)

Keynote lecture, Federico Luisetti (09:15–10:30)

1. Tectonic Formations (11:00–12:30) 2. Rethinking Planetary Representation (11:00–12:30)

3. Narrating Geontologies (13:30–15:00) 4. Visual Ecologies (13:30–15:00; streaming paused for Minna Valjakka’s talk)

5. Insurgent Terrains (15:30–17:00) 6. Unearthing the Geopolitical (15:30–17:00; streaming paused for Paloma Puente-Lozano’s talk)

Friday 5 April

Zoom link, Doelenzaal, Day 2: Zoom link, Potgieterzaal, Day 2:

https://uva-live.zoom.us/j/84278379604 https://uva-live.zoom.us/j/85982393446

7. Planetary Embodiments (11:00–12:30) 8. Surveying Extractions (11:00–12:30)

9. Commodifying Geos (13:30–15:00) 10. Multisensory Environments (13:30–15:00)

11. Time and Tide (15:30–17:00) 12. Metageographies (15:30–17:00)

Closing Remarks (17:15–17:30)