Highlights Aesthetics

    «Works of art are means by which we enter through imagination and the emotions they evoke, into other forms of relationship and participation than our own.»

    Citation by John Dewey

      Scientific, Artistic and Creative Output and Impact

      In 2023, RFA staff delivered 36 lectures in international settings, as well as published 27 articles and 3 monographs or edited volumes.

      The RFA hosted three workshops with international speakers:

      1. «Intuitive Erkenntnis – Ästhetik und Kunstbegriff Benedetto Croces» (Intuitive Knowledge: Benedetto Croce’s Aesthetics and Concept of Art), 5–6 May 2023
      2. «Künstlerisches Handeln. Möglichkeiten der Beschreibung in der ästhetischen Theorie heute» (Artistic Action: Possibilities of Description in Contemporary Aesthetic Theory), 13–14 October 2023
      3. «Agency, Ritual, Geste. Verteilte Handlungsmacht in ästhetischen Praktiken» (Agency, Ritual, Gesture: Distributed Agency in Aesthetic Practices), 17–18 November 2023

      The following RFA events also attracted large audiences:

      • Prof. Dr. Andreas Reckwitz: «Verlust. Die andere Seite des Fortschritts» (Loss: The Other Side of Progress, lecture, 24 April 2023)
      • Autumn Academy: «Im Impasse. Spielformen kleinen Handelns» (In the Impasse. Minor Forms of Action), 11–15 November 2023

      → Overview «Scientific, Artistic and Creative Output and Impact»

        Promotion of Talents and Careers

        In 2023, three PhD students (Borggrefe, Stowasser, Hörrlein) and five postdoctoral researchers (Ruta, Schamal, Köthe, Krtilova, Croce) were employed at the RFA.

        The PhD programme Epistemologies of Aesthetic Practices supports 25 PhD students (including 8 research associates).

        → Overview «Promotion of Talents and Careers»

          Cooperation and Internationality

          The RFA maintains cooperations with

          • Vienna Academy of Fine Arts
          • UdK Berlin Graduate School for «Das Wissen der Künste»
          • Collaborative Research Centre for Intervening Arts, FU Berlin
          • Chicago University (Artist Study Group)
          • Patras University (Artist Study Group)
          • HBK Essen 
          • Folkwang-Hochschule Essen
          • University of Zurich
          • Zentrum Künste Kulturtheorie, University of Zurich
          • ETH Zurich
          • Collegium Helveticum
          • Etc.

          → Overview «Cooperation and Internationality​​​​​​​»

            External Funding

            SNSF applications:

            1. «Das transformative Potenzial post- und dekolonialen Kunsthandelns für eine Neubestimmung ästhetischer Grundbegriffe» (The transformative potential of post- and decolonial art practices as a basis for redefining basic aesthetic concepts; four positions, CHF 990’000 (Resubmission)
            2. Ambitione Application, Sebastian Köthe: «Schwacher Trost im Angesicht der Shoa» (Scant consolation in the face of the Shoa), CHF 500’000

            → Overview «Research Projects»

              Milestone

              Switzerland has two chairs of aesthetics, one of which is at ZHdK. Thus, its chair of aesthetics and the RFA distinguish ZHdK from other higher education institutions. Both are internationally connected and highly acclaimed across Switzerland and internationally.

              RFA staff are invited to numerous conferences and symposia, publish worldwide, are internationally connected, serve as visiting professors, are awarded residencies, and are supported by foundations. Other activities include providing expert opinion, providing services for foundations and boards of trustees, and serving on appointment and other committees. RFA staff also teach on continuing education programmes (CAS) at the University of Zurich and cooperate with all departments at ZHdK.

                Event Highlight

                Lecture by Andreas Reckwitz: «Verlust. Die andere Seite des Fortschritts» [Loss: The Other Side of Progress]: 150 attendees from all departments and the wider public.

                  Award-Winning

                  Sebastian Köthe’s PhD thesis («Guantánamo bezeugen»/«Witnessing Guantánamo) was awarded the dissertation prize of the Kulturwissenschaftliche Gesellschaft (KWG) for the best dissertation of the last three years.

                    Noteworthy

                    «Die Integration der Künste ins Gesellschaftliche und Konsequenzen für Kunstinstitutionen» (The Integration of the Arts into the Social and Consequences for Art Institutions): a lecture delivered as part of the lecture series on «Kunst und Gegenwart» (Art and the Present) at the Documenta Institute Kassel, 20 June 2023