5 January 2022

Symposium Re-Edo-Cation: artists and experts from Germany and Japan debate ecological transformation

Lectures, talks, artist interventions
Saturday, 8 January 2022, 8 am – 3 pm
Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Hanseatenweg, Goethe-Institut Tokyo and online

At the symposium Re-Edo-Cation, artists and experts from Germany and Japan will examine the scope for conceptualizing and shaping ecological transformation. The starting point for the debate is the historical Edo period in Japan, in which extremely vibrant art and culture developed despite the shortage of energy and resources. The symposium, which is taking place simultaneously in Berlin and Tokyo as well as online, with lectures, talks and artist interventions, is a cooperative project of the Akademie der Künste with the Floating University, the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, the Goethe-Institut Tokyo and Kyoto Experiment. It will be held in German, English and Japanese.

For 250 years, during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868, Japan managed its economy almost exclusively with the energy of the sun, without any external supply of resources. With a relatively high population density, the Japanese succeeded in increasing forested areas and soil yields. Tatami mats, kimonos, paper walls and even sushi testify to the need to conserve resources and save energy. While the debates on ecological transformation are often coloured by such terms as sacrifice and asceticism, the symposium sees in the aesthetic and cultural innovations of the Edo period points of contact and a possible model for the future.

The symposium will take place simultaneously at the Akademie der Künste at Hanseatenweg and at the Goethe-Institut Tokyo as a physical event. In Berlin, tea and soup will be served, and there will be footbaths and live art performances. Transmission from the other venue will be acoustic. All items will be translated into Japanese, German and English. The event can be followed live on the Internet as a radio programme in three languages via the www.reedocate-me.com.

With, among others,
Azby Brown, artist, designer, architect and author, Faculty of Architecture at Kanazawa Institute of Technology, head of the Future Design Institute
Nicholas Bussmann, composer and musician
Michaela Christ, head of the Diachronic Transformation research field at the Norbert Elias Center for Transformation Design & Research at Europa-Universität Flensburg
Fritz Frenkler, industrial designer, f/p design GmbH, Berlin, Munich, Kyoto, Emeritus of Excellence of the Technical University of Munich, member of the Akademie der Künste and director of its Architecture Section
Ulrike Herrmann, journalist and author, taz economics correspondent
Toshikatsu Ienari (dot architects), architect
Daigo Kosakai, curator of special exhibitions at the Edo-Tokyo Museum
Bastian Reiber, actor
Matthias Schmelzer, economic historian, networker and climate activist, Institute for Sociology at Friedrich Schiller University of Jena
Yuko Tanaka, former president of Hosei University, Tokyo, professor emeritus, professor at Edo-Tokyo Research Center, author
Andres Veiel, film and theatre director, author, member of the Akademie der Künste
Nagara Wada, dramatist and director

raumlabor (spatial design, Berlin), Sampo Inc. (spatial design, Tokyo)
eat&art taro (food culture and catering, Tokyo)

With the kind support of the Japan Foundation


Event details
Re-Edo-Cation auditive symposium
Saturday, 8 January 2022
Akademie der Künste: 8 am to 3 pm CET
Goethe-Institut Tokyo: 4 pm to 11 pm JST
On the Internet at local times
In German, English and Japanese

Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg 10, 10557 Berlin
Admission free

Timetable and further information: www.reedocate-me.com