The First Coffee Break Conference of Aesthetics Velence, Hungary, 2-5 May, 2024 (Thursday-Sunday) Leading theme: Trying Out New Paths in Aesthetics
About the topic The leading theme of the conference was: Trying Out New Paths in Aesthetics, and we rather encouraged participants to be bold and take risks, rather than secure customary research outputs. We aimed for a format which has roots in Greek symposiums, Renaissance academies, 18th century salons and early 20th century coffee house discussions – without forgetting the philosophical education acquired in Japanese tea houses, and the like all over the world. The topics could be both on a meta-level of/about aesthetics and/or applied aesthetics. Recent works in what could be called extended aesthetics aim to not just extend aesthetic reflection into various territories of life from sport to politics, but to properly apply aesthetic theory to cultural and everyday phenomena and to relocate whole theoretical discussions to new terrains, using aesthetic ideas to X-ray new cultural constellations. “Extended aesthetics” is understood both as expanding the investigation beyond the traditional fields of interest in classical aesthetics, but also to extend its employment beyond mere theoretical research. This is why what interested us the most is where and how we can extend the use and applicability of our discipline. How does it clash and/or mash-up with other disciplines and what kind of problems arise when aesthetic theory is relocated to new contexts where it has unforeseen explanatory roles? What methodological considerations do we have to take into account when we extend the use of aesthetics? What actual and “tangible” results can be expected if aesthetics is awarded this new role and responsibility? Can aesthetics get a more significant role due to this development? We sincerely believe that aesthetics has what it takes to become more institutionally important in academic life and that many of its advances have lately proved that e.g. in topics like care, immersion, evolution and philosophy of life.
REPORT on the First Coffee Break Conference of Aesthetics The Coffee Break Conference of Aesthetics, the first of its kind, i.e. The First Coffee Break Conference of Aesthetics, was held May 2-5, 2024, in Velence, Hungary. The topic was Trying Out New Paths in Aesthetics. A handful of participants came already for the pre-conference dinner to the SPA Hotel on May 1. But 2:30 PM May 2 we started the first session out of seven. Written beforehand, commented on beforehand, and just discussed – with Italian, Hungarian and Finnish coffee – we had 16 contributions. The events of the conference included Marco Bianchi’s piano concert at his house in Velence, a boat ride to Halászcsárda Restaurant (famous for its carp and fish dishes), a visit at Milorad Krstic’ studio and a closing with a tea tasting ceremony. The culinary side ranged from the already mentioned fish restaurant to homemade sandwiches, a meal at the Bálint Borárium wine yard (also a site of one of the sessions), and snacks here and there, including a cake as the final. The participants of conference 1 (2024) were Matti Tainio, Noora-Helena Korpelainen, Saumya Suyal, Enea Bianchi, Marleni Reyes, Gabriela Farias, Lisa Giombini, Adrian Kvovacka, Lenka Bardovà, Mateusz Salwa, Yvonne Förster, Peter Baumann (& Gisela Cramer), Rodrigo Duarte, Myriam Ávila, Zoltán Somhegyi and Max Ryynänen. Besides family visitors the event in Velence hosted also Richard Shusterman, Botond Csuka and Bálint Veres for one of the accompanying programmes. The organizers were happy that so many partners and family members arrived with the participants, adding to the warm and family-like atmosphere of the conference, and we hope this will become a tradition of the Society. Organizers: Zoltán Somhegyi – [email protected] www.zoltansomhegyi.com Max Ryynänen – [email protected] www.maxryynanen.net
