At the invitation of the Foundation, the lecture series: Green Soul, Anthropocene, Cultures, Imaginations, is devised and led by Paul Ardenne, art historian and curator. This series takes place every month at the Fondation Thalie, Brussels. Its aim is to provide as complete a picture as possible of the anthropocene ‘spirit of the age’, the prodigal of the ‘Green Soul’.
#4 – From Anthropocene disaster to prodigal creation. The environmental destruction of the world and its rich aesthetic translation.
The culture of the Anthropocene is nourished by a set of perceptions of the environmental situation that find their translation in the very way we ‘represent’ and give shape to ecological reality. The result is a profusion of intellectual and artistic creation, as rich in cultural wealth as the Anthropocene is rich in destruction of all kinds. Is damaging the planet a paradox?
Paul Ardenne has a degree in History and a doctorate in Arts and Art Sciences. He is a contributor to the journals Art press, Archistorm and INTER-Art actuel, and is the author of several books: Art, l’âge contemporain (1997), L’Art dans son moment politique (2000), L’Image Corps (2001), Un Art contextuel (2002), Art, le présent (2009), Un Art écologique. Création plasticienne et anthropocène (2018), L’Art en joie. Aesthetics of joyful humanity (2023). He is also a novelist and specialist in architecture (Terre Habitée, 2005; La Bonne ville, 2019; Le Boost et le frein – Comment l’humain bâtit au 21e siècle?, 2021…).
As a curator of contemporary art, Paul Ardenne has designed numerous exhibitions, the most recent of which are “Dendromorphies. Creating with trees” (Paris, 2016), “Courants verts. Creating for the environment” (Paris, 2019) and “L’anthropocène et après” (Saint-Denis de la Réunion, 2020). He has produced several programmes on France Culture devoted to art in the age of the Anthropocene (“L’art est l’environnement“, January 2023) and is a regular contributor to the series of programmes The World in Images, on the ARTE television channel.
This series of lectures takes place every month at the Fondation Thalie, Brussels. The aim is to provide as complete a picture as possible of the anthropocenic “spirit of the age”, the prodigal of the “Green Soul”.
In partnership with ESA Saint-Luc Bruxelles School, Master in Social Innovation Design.