Humanity is confronted with enormous challenges: climate change, global health crises, artificial intelligence, hybrid forms of new warfare, geopolitical tensions are ingredients of a frequently cited “polycrisis”. The human ability to shape one’s own destiny is more in question than ever. Powerful new technologies are playing an ever-increasing role in our lives, and it seems that humanity has no choice but to grapple with the uncharted territory of these unknown and unexplored worlds.
All of this goes hand in hand with dwindling trust in political institutions and the increasing influence of authoritarian ideologies. The ideological certainties of the Cold War are now only a distant memory. Forging a path through these uncertainties requires more creativity, exploration and experimentation than perhaps ever before in history.
Four keynotes from Phil Manzanera, Catherine Ashton, Christopher Clark and Stephen Kotkin frame the festival weekend. Please register for the keynote events. On Saturday and Sunday at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, guests can enjoy the following program with free admission:
SATURDAY, September 28, 2024
10:00-10:45 Guided tour of the exhibition The collection Viewing & Cranach’s Holy Productivity (with registration)
11:00-12:00
Barbi Marković – Mini horror: absurd social criticism close to life
Gaia Vince – How to survive climate change
12:30-13:30
Isabel Behncke – What should humans learn from primates?
Jonathan White – Can democracy survive the death of the future?
14:00-15:00
Katy Hessel – Art without men
Sonja Rinofner-Kreidl – Virtues: what they are good for and why they have nothing to do with moralism
15:30-16:30
Ronya Othmann – The images remain. Terror and violence in the media
Georgios Varouzakis – The idea of the West: a short talk on a long story
17:00-18:00
Giuliano da Empoli – Putin is Russia; is Russia Putin?
Isabel Langkabel – The last days of humanity: the socio-political potential of satire
SUNDAY, September 29, 2024
10:00-10:45 Guided tour of the exhibition Exhibit–various exhibition practices (with registration)
11:00-12:00
Olivier Roy – The crisis of culture
Virginia Worthy – Beyond the AI hype: balancing innovation and social responsibility
12:30-13:30
Albena Azmanova – Between autonomy and precarity – capitalism on edge
Nils Gilman – Planetary solutions for planetary problems
14:00-15:00
Tim Crane – Artificial intelligence: myth and realities
Yoel Gamzou – If classical music had a future
15:30-16:30
Eva Menasse – The curse of networking
Julie Klinger – Critical raw materials: how to realize the Green transition
17:00-18:00
Adam Shatz – The rebel psychiatrist
Tanja Maljartschuk – Ukraine on the literary world map
In 2024, the festival will be organized by the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) and Time To Talk (TTT) in cooperation with FALTER, the Open Society Foundations, the City of Vienna, the ERSTE Foundation, the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, the Vienna Museum and the Volkstheater.
The festival takes place in English and German. Admission to the weekend events is free. More information and the entire program at www.humanitiesfestival.at. For interview requests please contact iwm-pr@iwm.at.
Vienna Humanities Festival 2024
Under the motto Uncharted/Neuland, visitors are invited to lectures and discussions with some of today’s most brilliant minds over five days.
Datum: 24.09.2024 – 29.09.2024
Art: Lectures and discussions
Ort: Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Volkstheater, Vienna Museum, City Hall of the City of Vienna
URL: https://www.humanitiesfestival.at