Conference ACTH - Contradiction, antagonism and negativity

The research unit Art contemporain et temps de l’histoire (Contemporary Art and Time of History, ACTH) of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Lyon organises on Thursday, March 31st and Friday, April 1st, 2022 the second part of the conference "Contradiction, Antagonism and Negativity".

The first meeting organised by Stacion — Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina, set the stage to discuss the nexus of (post)modern society and negativity, antagonism and contradiction, particularly from the fields of critical theory, decolonial political theory, psychoanalysis, aesthetics, queer theory and feminism. Taking into account the short history of 20th century modernism, the conference also poses the question whether and how we can (re)think negativity beyond capitalist postmodernity. In an allegedly “post-historical” age, has negativity become too negative to “work”? As part of the public program of Summer School as School 2021, the first meeting was under the direction of the philosopher Sami Khatib and the artist, curator, and social critic, Albert Heta, with the participation of the critic and translator Boris Buden and the poet and art theorist Keti Chukhrov.

The second part of the conference, "Contradiction, Antagonism and Negativity", under the direction of Bernhard Rüdiger, director of the research unit ACTH, still joined by Sami Khatib and Albert Heta, proposes to explore a certain number of strategies and contemporary cultural practices which seem to respond to the "post-historic" condition by using repetition, radical otherness or other denying reactions to negativity.

With Keti Chukhrov, Albert Heta, Anna Holveck, Maxime Juin, Michala Julínyová, Sami Khatib, Sophie Lamm, Jennifer Lauro Mariani, Chiara Palermo, Marion Roche, Bernhard Rüdiger, Lucas Zambon.

More information about the conference.