Between the Market, the Stage and Diplomacy: Cultural Transfer in a Global Context
6 October 2014
How culture is mediated across social and national boundaries, e.g. through the translation of writings, theatrical productions or exhibitions, is the focus of this year’s annual conference of the Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context”. Approximately 150 researchers from Germany and abroad will gather to discuss current research issues in this field, such as the influence of art and culture on the image of cities. The conference titled “Cultural Mediation. Creativity, Performance, Display” will be held from October 8 to 10, 2014. Lectures open to the public will be given by Berlin theatre scholar Prof. Dr. Erika Fischer-Lichte and Heidelberg historian Prof. Dr. Nikolas Jaspert.
“Many cities, especially large cities, endeavour to attract the cultural elite, the so-called creative class. The more creative minds a city has, the more attractive it is for inhabitants, investors and tourists. This also improves the city’s image,” underscores Prof. Dr. Christiane Brosius of the Cluster “Asia and Europe”, who is organising the conference together with Prof. Dr. Melanie Trede and Prof. Dr. Hans Harder on behalf of the research area “Public Spheres”. During the conference, the participants will explore, among other things, the question of how not only urban centres in the West, but also cities in Asia pursue this kind of city image building. Over the course of the three-day conference, the researchers will also discuss the mediation of art in times of crisis marked by war, the dissemination of new forms of religion in Asia as well as the globalisation of the theatre and the theatre industry.
Prof. Fischer-Lichte will open the conference with a lecture on how theatre cultures are interlaced. In her lecture entitled “Interweaving Performance Cultures: A Transcultural Approach” the researcher from Freie Universität Berlin will illustrate the effects that processes of exchange in the performing arts have on cultural identity and society. The event on 8 October in the Great Hall of the Old University, Grabengasse 1, will begin at 6:15 pm. On 9 October Prof. Jaspert of Heidelberg University will speak on the topic of “Cultural Brokerage: A Medieval Mediterranean Perspective”. This lecture will focus on cultural mediation in the Middle Ages. It will begin at 6:15 pm at the Karl Jaspers Centre, Voßstraße 2, building 4400.
