3rd International Colloquium inContemporary Philosophy
and Culture
Global Cultural Encounters: Impacts and Inspirations

June 8-10, 2023

hosted byxow.rumi / Capacete International Arts Residency,
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
in conjunction with
the Society for Philosophy as Global Conversation

Credits: Wikipedia

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Rio's Sugarloaf Mountain (Wikipedia)

xow.rumi / Capacete facilities, located in Glória, Rio de Janeiro (xow.rumi archives)

3rd International Colloquium in Contemporary Philosophy and Culture
June 08-10, 2023
Theme
Global Cultural Encounters: Impacts and Inspirations
Organizer
Society for Philosophy as Global Conversation ( https://philogc.org )Hosted byxow.rumi / Capacete International Art Residency, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Supported bySociety for Philosophy as Global Conversations
Capacete International Art Residency
The discretional expense of the president of the University of Nagano
Language
English2

International Colloquium in Contemporary Philosophy and Culture
Global Cultural Encounters: Impacts and Inspirations
Colloquium Chair:
Antoine de Mena, xow.rumi / Capacete International Art Residency
Deputy Colloquium Chairs:
Rossen Roussev, St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo
Tomokazu Baba, The University of Nagano
Dates and Venue:
June 8-10, 2023
xow.rumi / Capacete International Art Residency
Colloquium place: xow.rumi, Rua Benjamin Constant n. 125, Glória/Santa Teresa, Riode Janeiro, https://goo.gl/maps/DbdDYwdkcFrqu1oN8)
Colloquium Tips
• Access by subway: Glória station.
• Transportation from airport: by taxi/Uber to xow Rumi. Taxi or Uber (BRL 50-70,
approx. USD 10-15). Taxis do not accept foreign currency but generally accept Credit
cards. There are a lot of taxis in the streets. Uber is very used and useful in Rio.
• Credit card are accepted in stores; you need to mention “crédito” when paying.
Currency exchange at the airport; or, for a better rate, in travel/currency exchange
places. A currency exchange place near xow.rumi is athttps://goo.gl/maps/5iAq8aoEvrxrj4CC9• Weather is typically between 20C to 28C during the day, between 15C to 20C during
the night.
• Security: It is advisable not to walk on the street displaying valuable items (cameras,
jewelry, etc.). Colloquium takes place in a very secure street.

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COLLOQUIUM PROGRAM
June 8, 2023
Registration
9:30 am – 9:45 am
Opening Remarks:
9:45 am – 10:00 am
Antoine de Mena, Tomokazu Baba, Rossen Roussev
Thursday Panel I: 10:00 am – noon
Nomadic Culture and the Arts of Chalk and Sand
Chair: Antoine de Mena, xow.rumi / Capacete International Art Residency

Nomadic Culture as Inspiration: New Paths of Art
in Central Asia
Shaarbek Amankul, Artist, Б’Art
Contemporary, Kyrgyzstan(30 min + Q & A)

The Art of Chalk Carving
Mriganka Sankar Poddar, Mahadevananda
Mahavidyalaya, West Bengal State University

Diverse Colors of Culture and Sand
Akiko Nakayama, Artist(30 min + Q & A)

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Thursday Panel II: 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Art, Craft, and Literature in the Encounter of East and West
Chair: Rossen Roussev, St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo‘Me, an Occasional Metalsmith’: Art, Craft and Everyday Life
Ve-Yin Tee, Nanzan University
Run Melos!: The Work of a Fecund Intercultural Encounter between the West and the East
Fabien Durringer, University of Orléans
Iris Murdoch and Yukio Mishima
Fiona Tomkinson, Nagoya University

Thursday Panel III: 2:45 pm – 6:15 pm
Land War vs. Land Art
Chair: Antoine de Mena, xow.rumi / Capacete International Art Residency

The Desert of the Desert (2016)(documentary film)
Samir Abujamra(87 min + Q & A)

Philosophical Land Art(workshop)
Tomokazu Baba, The University of Nagano(60 min)5

June 9, 2023
Friday Panel I: 9:00 am – 10:30
Collective Responsibility, Transcultural Associations, and Spiritual Science
Chair: Rossen Roussev, St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko TarnovoCollective Responsibility and the Metaphysics of Personal Identity
Padriac Amato Tahua O’Leary, University of Auckland
The Ontological Implications of Persistent Transcultural Linguistic Associations
Johan Eddebo, Uppsala University
Towards a Spiritual Science – A Holistic Approach to the Big Questions in Modern Science
Krishna Keshava Das, Bhakti Vedanta Institute of Spiritual Culture and Science,Princeton, New Jersey
Friday Panel II: 10:45 am – 12:15 pm
Myth, Nostalgia, and Future
Chair: Fabien Durringer, University of OrléansFriedrich Georg Jünger’s Remarks on Myth
Mario Bosincu, University of Sassari
Encounter with the Landscape : Nostalgy and Aspiration of Kaii Higashiyama
Tomokazu Baba, The University of Nagano
Anticipated future - the rhythm of Walter Benjamin's temporal mimesis and its manifestations in Joan
Brossa’s poetics
Fernando Gerheim, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro

Friday Panel III: 1:15 pm – 3:00 pm
Improvisation, Tridimensionality, Endless War and Reflection
Chair: Tomokazu Baba, The University of Nagano
Improvisation as a Methodology in Art Practice or Unexpected Knowledge
Svetoslava Georgieva, St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo
Painting and Three-dimensional Pieces: An Art Perspective on Ceramic and Sculpture
Gabriele Künne, Artist
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Endless War(a work-in-progress film)
Antoine de Mena, Artist(30 min + Q & A)

Past and Future Reflections
Stoyan Minkov, Artist

Friday Panel IV: 3:15 pm – 5:00 pm
Encountering the Idea and Aché Guayaki
Chair: Antoine de Mena, xow.rumi / Capacete International Art Residency

The Idea Is
Fernando Gerheim, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro(30 min + Q & A)

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Chenga Ruwara, Part Two
Eduardo Pacheco (Ducha), Dadá Artist(45 min + Q & A)

8:00 pm
Colloquium Dinner (optional)
Location TBA

June 10, 2023
Saturday Panel I: 9:00 am – 10:30 am
Deep Ecology, Human Destructiveness, and True Impostor
Chair: Fiona Tomkinson, Nagoya University
Confluence of Cultures in Deep Ecology: A Philosophical Exploration
Priyambada Sarkar, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India
The Nature of Human Destructiveness
Albina Gimkaeva, Lomonosov Moscow State University
The True Impostor
Daniel Frota de Abreu, Visual Artist

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Saturday Panel II: 10:45 am – 12:15 pm
Globie, Spiritual Awakening, and Love
Chair: Tomokazu Baba, The University of Nagano
What is a Globie?: A Postmodern Phenomenon of World Migration and CitizenshipRossen Roussev, St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo
Exercising Yoga for Spiritual Awakening
Mriganka Sankar Poddar, Mahadevananda Mahavidyalaya, West Bengal State University,
India
Challenging the binary principle: contemporary LGBTQ+ Wiccan practice in the Berkano Wicca
Tradition in Hungary
Amirul Haqqi, University of Szeged, Hungary.

Saturday Panel III 1:15 pm – 2:15 pm
Encounters of Wisdom
Chair: Rossen Roussev, St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo
Ancestral Wisdom
Camila Morais, Visual Artist
Melgga, Artist(30 min + Q & A)
Closing Remarks
Tomokazu Baba, Rossen Roussev, Antoine de Mena

Saturday Panel IV: 7:30 pm till lateClosing Party
Chair: You, International Colloquium in Contemporary Philosophy and Culture

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PRESENTERS’ ABSTRACTS AND INFORMATION(listed alphabetically by presenter’s last name)

The True Impostor
byDaniel Frota de Abreu, Visual Artist
The goal of this essay is to throw light on the causes that slow down certain discussions in the field of
climate science and related politics today. The focus is on how representation regimes and framing
techniques used in performing arts and theater can work as tools for understanding mechanisms behindthe contemporary climate denialism. The institutional use of irony and the digital dissemination of false
images in the denialist rhetoric create powerful anomalies of belief, which often produce perilous socialand cultural effects. The usage of the denialist rhetoric is analyzed here through identified intersectionsin the fields of theatrical fiction, religious conversion, and political propaganda.
Keywords: Denial, Theatre, Irony, Conversion, Politics
Daniel Frota de Abreu is a visual artist. Through archival research, films, sculptures and installations he investigates
the role of montage and fabulation in the documentation of natural and historical events. His research draws connections
between preservation practices, geographical displacement of artifacts, and political implications embedded in the productionof scientific knowledge.

Nomadic Culture as Inspiration: New Paths of Art in Central Asia
byShaarbek Amankul, Б’Art Contemporary, Kyrgyzstan
Niccolò Lucarelli, Art Critic, Artribune and ArtsLife
Nomadic Art Camp is developed by Б’Art Contemporary, an independent cultural institution founded
by Kyrgyz conceptual artist Shaarbek Amankul, aiming to bring artists, curators, researchers, andteachers together to experience and experiment an authentic nomadic lifestyle on the Tien Shan
mountains, in direct contact with local communities. The realization of the project is meant to offers aunique reflection on the nomadic culture and rediscover it as a source of inspiration for both spiritualand aesthetic searches. It is also meant to connect and foster a new relationship between human beingsand nature, as well as between urban and rural dwellers, and to comprehend and communicate what issensed and felt though the language of contemporary art. The expectation is that art work inspired inthis way could offer new perspectives on pressing social, cultural, environmental, economic, or politicalquestions and issues, and thus help understand and handle them in better ways on all levels of society
and culture.
Can nomadic culture rediscover the idea of community as living in a better balance with naturalenvironment? The Nomadic Art Camp project is also meant to reach out to minorities marginalizedgroups by bringing art inspired in this way to their communities. Overall, projects of this type are seen
as means of prompting reflection, sparkling conversation, and giving access and rise to the depth of art,
which is itself a source of insights and thus a social tool of emancipation, a tool that promotes dialogue
and inclusion between people around the world.
How can contemporary artists translate the culture of nomadism in their works? Nomadism can beseen as a metaphor of life as a travel, as much as nomads as metaphor for artists. Artists are usually
among the few circles of people in culture that question the visual and intellectual stereotypes with which
modern lifestyle is overwhelmed. This exploration becomes possible when artists embrace their nomadic
spirits, maintaining a sense of heightened awareness. Kyrgyzstan, with its rich traditional nomadic culture,
serves as a wellspring of inspiration for forging new artistic paths on the global stage of contemporary
art. (30 min + Q & A)
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Shaarbek Amankul is founding director of Б’Art Contemporary - an artistic research initiative which considers art asan essential facilitator of critical dialogue on environmental, social, economic and cultural issues faced by the societies ofCentral Asia. He has participated in a number of international exhibitions, art residencies, festivals, symposia, andconferences abroad. As a part of his itinerant art practice and cultural research in 2011 he started a series of nomadic art
projects in Kyrgyzstan using traditional way of life of nomads as a source of inspiration for contemporary conceptual art
practices. This series is called Nomadic Art Camp and continues to this day, opening the doors for the international art
community to yet little-known territory of the world. Email: bishkekcontemporaryart@gmail.com, http://bishkekart.kg/
Niccolò Lucarelli holds a degree in International Studies and has an impressive background in the arts and academia.
He serves as an art and theater critic for esteemed publications such as Artribune and ArtsLife. Niccolò's curatorial
research is primarily dedicated to exploring the influence of socio-political subjects on artistic practices. He keenly examines
how artists engage with and respond to these themes, resulting in thought-provoking exhibitions and projects. Nomadic Art
Camp project is his first research in Central Asian Contemporary Art. He has curated shows in Italy, Czech Republicand Africa.

The Desert of the Desert (2016)bySamir Abujamra
The Desert of the Desert is a feature-length documentary about one of the most enduring and least known
conflicts on the planet - the invasion of Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa, occupied by Moroccofor 40 years, and the drama of its people, the nomadic Saharawi Bedouins. The Desert of the Desert is a filmthat leads to a new perception of the sad fate of a nomadic people forced to live in confinement andwhose suffering is practically unknown by world public opinion.
Link to the film: https://vimeo.com/160188440?share=copy (87 min + Q & A)
Samir Abujamra is a director, actor, editor, screenwriter, filmmaker, photographer, and artist. Among Samir’s main
highlights are the feature-length documentary “O Paraíba,” released at the 2009 Rio Festival; the short film “A
Verdadeira História da Bailarina de Vermelho,” which competed in several festivals in Brazil and abroad and won several
awards, including the Grande Prêmio do Cinema Brasileiro; and the Projeto SUMIR program, where Abujamra made asolo trip around the world for 22 consecutive months – a huge self-documentary that developed into a series of 70 episodes
shown on Canal Brasil.

Encounter with the Landscape : Nostalgy and Aspiration of Kaii Higashiyama
byTomokazu Baba, The University of Nagano
Kaii Higashiyama, a leading figure in postwar Japanese painting, was born in Kobe, an international port
city. While studying Japanese painting, he went to Berlin in the early 1930s to study Western art history.
Upon his return, he was called up as a soldier and trained to charge tanks with bombs.
One day he had a fundamental experience that opened his eyes as a landscape painter. While looking
at the landscape from the top of the Kumamoto castle, he had the feeling that something around him
was enabling him to stay alive. He continued to travel and paint landscapes throughout his life in orderto reconnect with the landscapes that gave him this feeling. By doing so, according to his own words,
his work was driven by nostalgia and aspiration.
These are seemingly contradictory impulses, because nostalgia is a self-identifying desire to return to
one's lost homeland, while aspiration is a yearning to become something other than oneself. Landscapesfor Kaii, however, are the object of both nostalgia and aspiration, which are always pursued throughpainting. This presentation will discuss landscape as a deconstruction of nostalgia and aspiration, using
an essay written by the artist. In order to clarify the particular position of the landscape of Kaii, I will
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refer to Jean-Luc Nancy’s theory of landscape. This will clarify the ways in which Kaii’s landscapes differ
from landscapes as representations characteristic of the modern era.

Philosophical Land Art(outdoors workshop)
byTomokazu Baba, The University of Nagano
Philosophical Land Art is a workshop designed to facilitate a philosophical dialogue through creation ofartwork with natural objects which you can find in the park (leaves, branches, pebbles, etc.). We need atleast two groups. By creating an artwork with your group member, you can talk at ease about thephilosophical theme which your group’s artwork represents. At the end of the creating session, eachgroup gives the other group a quiz: what theme does our artwork represent? You can ask creators about
their work to get some clues. This workshop enables us to have philosophical dialogues inside and among
the groups and also the one with natural objects.
Dr. Tomokazu Baba is Professor at the University of Nagano. He received a Ph.D. from Hitotsubashi University(2008) and another one from the Sorbonne Paris IV (2013). His research discipline include Contemporary Philosophy,
Ethics, History of Ideas, especially 20th century French and German Philosophy, Levinas and Heidegger. He is also
practitionerofphilosophicaldialogueinphilosophicalcafé,
schools,andinvarioussettings. Email: joiespacieuse@gmail.com

Friedrich Georg Jünger’s Remarks on MythbyMario Bosincu, University of Sassari
As Joseph Campbell has remarked, after the First World War there appeared a series of literary,
anthropological, and psychological works dealing with the mythical archetypes fundamental to thestructuring of human life: Eliot’s Waste Land, Jung’s Psychologische Typen and Frobenius’ Paideuma. Yet, in
his Traumdeutung (1900) Freud had already seen the Oedipus complex as a coercive behavior pattern,
thereby paving the way for Hillman’s conception of human life as the “enactment of mythical scenarios”(Hillman 1975: 22). What is more, Freud conceived of the myth as the means whereby one could throw
light on the psychic forces enslaving man and put an end to the thraldom to an “archetypal pattern”(Hillman 1972: XXXVII). Friedrich Georg Jünger’s book Griechische Götter. Apollo, Pan, Dionysos (1943) is
to be placed within the context of the twentieth century psychological analysis of the power of myth.
This is the reason why Jünger criticizes the rationalistic approach to myth epitomized by Francis Bacon’s
reflections thereupon. Far from giving expression to rational truths by means of allegories and ofpresenting itself as an instrument of reason, myth, according to Jünger, reveals the numen, i.e. the psychic
forces acting upon men. In this sense, Western history is characterized by the advance of science going
hand in hand with the loss of the myths preserving the knowledge of the ‘gods’ – the archetypes – rulingover man’s psyche. In other words, Western man, devoting himself to the technological conquest ofnature, has forgotten his deep nature. Drawing upon a gnostic motif, Jünger ascribes man’s self-oblivion
to modern science, which conceals the psychic forces overpowering or helping men. More precisely,
Jünger aims at unmasking the numinous force that has given rise to the technological civilization createdby the Nazis and identifies such a force with the Titan Prometheus. The homo faber is therefore a“prometheischer Mensch” (Jünger 1944: 5), a man unconsciously re-enacting the archetypal pattern ofPrometheus’ hubris underlying the will to power inherent in the “technische ratio” (Jünger 2010: 143).
Jünger’s reflections thus serve to open the reader’s eyes to the destructive force to which his instrumental
reason is enslaved and which is at the base of the overexploitation of man and nature. At the same time,
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Jünger conjures up the figures of Apollo, Pan, and Dionysus, embodying the sense of measure, thepleasure principle, and the overflowing life force that countervail the Promethean and hubristic
rationality and that can lead the reader to a form of selfhood opposed to the one extolled by the Nazis.
Dr. Mario Bosincu teaches German literature at the University of Sassari. He got his PhD from the University ofHildesheim. His research interests include: Ernst Jünger, the literature of inner emigration and Romanticism. He is coeditor of the series L’altra parte. Testi e studi di letteratura e cultura tedesca. Email: mbosincu@gmail.com
https://uniss.academia.edu/MarioBosincu

Towards a Spiritual Science - A Holistic Approach to the Big Questions in Modern Scienceby
Krishna Keshava Das, Bhakti Vedanta Institute of Spiritual Culture and Science,Princeton, New Jersey
Three publications over the last decade, each from a platform unrelated to the others, demonstrate
renewed interest in considering the biggest questions that modern science has not yet satisfactorily
answered. Inquiring into the origin and nature of life was mentioned three times while inquiring into
consciousness was mentioned twice. This paper considers the historical context of the current scientificapproach to identify ways that may inhibit comprehensive explanations of consciousness and life. A
holistic approach indicates recognition that nothing exists in isolation and that everything has a context
within which it can be reasonably understood. Modern scientists embracing open-minded and holistic
perspectives candidly describe living phenomena in terms of volition, cognition, and “endogenous selforganization,” showing the necessity for a coherent concept of “self” in science. This paper offers aworking description for “self” that may encourage modern scientists to transcend reductionist limitations
which hinder a sober assessment of true reality, thus contributing to efforts to establish a solid
foundation for modern spiritual science.
Krishna Keshava Das is assistant to Dr. Bhakti Madhava Puri, the Serving Director of the Bhakti Vedanta Instituteof Spiritual Culture and Science (BVISCS), a charitable nonprofit educational organization in Princeton, New Jersey,
USA. His current ongoing education in philosophy of science, history of ideas, and Hegelian and Vedantic philosophy
began at the Princeton BVISCS in November 2018. Krishna Keshava Das is also a certified Holistic Health Counselor
who has been offering wellness programs to diverse communities throughout New Jersey since September 2016. Personally,
he follows the path of Bhakti-yoga (the yoga of devotion) as described in the ancient Vedic scriptures Bhagavad-gita andSrimad Bhagavatam.

The Ontological Implications of Persistent Transcultural Linguistic Associationsby
Johan Eddebo, Uppsala University
Empirical data makes it clear that the morphology and character of language is not arbitrary in relation
to the referents. That is, word choice in some way is influenced by the object, situations, and abstractions
our words refer to. While this seems perfectly sensible at first glance, it is something which is quitedifficult to square with the received perspectives of contemporary Western metaphysics where theinfluence of relativism and constructivism or other nominalist holdovers still hold sway.
This paper examines the potential metaphysical implications of this fact of persistent transcultural
linguistic associations, and explores ways to harmonize these findings with both Western and nonWestern metaphysics with an eye towards addressing the legacy of ontological divides between these twobodies of tradition. A particular focus is indirectly on the problem of the one vs. the many, and how the
relational implications of the intimate associations between perception, thought, language, and reality
may serve to anchor new solutions to these perennial issues.
13Dr. Johan Eddebo is an associate professor in Philosophy of Religion working at Centre for Multidisciplinary Research
on Religion and Society (CRS), Uppsala University. His research involves metaphysics, the nature of consciousness,
philosophy of science, epistemology in general, as well as issues of religion and politics. He attempts to approach philosophy
broadly, and apart from the analytical tradition employs perspectives relating to phenomenology, Medieval thought, andAristotelianism. Email: johan.eddebo@crs.uu.se

Run Melos!: The Work of a Fecund Intercultural Encounter
between the West and the Eastby
Fabien Durringer
It seems that global encounters involving culture are not necessarily limited to physical ones between
human beings from distinct countries, but might as well occur through the meeting of an author with atext from a noticeably different culture than his own. The encounter that gave birth to the piece of work
Run Melos! (1940) from Dazai Osamu (1909-1948) is of that kind. One finds an author that could be
qualified as “very Japanese” – Dazai never leaving Japan his entire life – confronted to an ancient Greek
legend that has travelled through the ages and through various countries, taking the form, under the penof Schiller, of a famous ballad called “Die Bürgschaft” (“The Hostage”), which became the primarysource of Dazai’s famous adaptation.
This presentation attempts to show how fruitful the encounter between this Western material – a
Greek legend and a German ballad – and the Japanese author was. It has greatly inspired Dazai and has
impacted Japanese literature and culture to such an extent that Run Melos! almost constantly appears inJapanese schoolbooks. Using some comparative methods with other texts telling the same story, as wellas the study of its genesis and an analysis of its meaning, we would like to show how Dazai Osamu
managed to make his short story a remarkable piece of work and to what extent it reveals, beyond thepersonality of its author, some features of Japanese culture.
Dr. Fabien Durringer is an Associate Professor (PRAG status) in Japanese studies at the University of Orléans. He
obtained his doctorate in economics from Hitotsubashi University (2009) and the French "agrégation" qualification in"Japanese Language and Culture" (2014). His research disciplines on Japan include the treatment of myths and of folk
materials in literature, comparative literature and cultural studies. In that framework, he has been focusing on authors like
Lafcadio Hearn, Yanagita Kunio, Osamu Dazai and Ryûnosuke Akutagawa. Email: fabien.durringer@yahoo.fr

Improvisation as a methodology in art practice or unexpected knowledge
bySvetoslava Georgieva, St. Ciryl and St. Methodius of Veliko TarnovoThis research is about improvisation as the main methodology in the creative process and aims to makeit more understandable, to upgrade and develop its reflexivity and sense of coherence with regard to thepractice. Despite the focus on spontaneity in all definitions, most improvisation theorists agree that
improvisation is not an ad hoc activity; rather, it involves skills, training, planning, limitations, andforethought. Hence, the improvisation skills can be learnt and taught and develop trough artistic practice.
Philosophical and psychological theories and discussions of the origin of improvisation have been
known since the time of Plato and Socrates in the fourth and fifth centuries BC. Research on
improvisation is still very important today as its methodological value has gained relevance – beyond all
traditional areas of artistic and professional endeavour – also for fields such as artificial intelligence,cognitive science, as well as cutting-edge technologies.
Why improvisation is so important for an artistic practice? Creativity, which lies at the heart of
improvisation, is one of the less understood aspects of intelligence and is often seen as intuitive, rather
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than rational. This is why, for understanding the origin and components of improvisation as
methodology, I very much draw on observations of my own artistic process to get a sense of its coreand origin. To take as an example one area of my work, painting is not a time-based art (excl. some
performances in real-time) and in it the outcome of improvisation does not appear in the same way as
in musical, dance, or theatrical improvisation, which always take place in real-time. Artistic process
involves ambiguity, subjectivity, randomness, and improvisation, as well as imagination, thinking, visual
culture, and intuition, which are all a subject of rebalancing in each artistic practice.
Famous modernist and postmodernist artists, including Picasso, Mattisse, Kandinsky, Cézanne,
Robert Motherwell, Ryma, Poons, Rivers, Pollock, and Cy Twombly among others, were influenced by
the eastern culture and developed as their main method of work the so-called “action painting.” This isa kind of intuitive gesture which is not just very personal and recognizable for each artist but is also amatter of a deep research trough practice.
Svetoslava Georgieva is a doctoral student in Fine Arts at St. Ciryl and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo.
She holds Mlitt of Art Practise Painting from Glasgow School of Art, and B.A. in Restoration and Conservation of Fine
Art from St. Ciryl and St. Methodius of Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Turnovo. She has done numerous solo and groupexhibitions throughout Europe. She is also a member of Society of Scottish Artists, SBH Union of Bulgarian Artists,
Association of Varna Artists, as well as AIAPI Spazio Tempo, Italy.

Anticipated future - the rhythm of Walter Benjamin's temporal mimesis and its manifestations
in Joan Brossa's poetics
byFernando Gerheim, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
This article discusses Walter Benjamin's theory of temporal mimesis, expounded in “Doctrine of the
Similars,” seeking to describe closely the rhythm with which “similarities erupt from the flow of things.”
This temporal relationship is discussed through its approximation with texts by P. Lavelle, C. Caimi and
A. Christin. The article seeks to demonstrate how the rhythm of this mimesis, which ancestrally
manifested itself in divinatory reading, is still present in language and writing, although the visible partof its influence is just like the tip of an iceberg. This rhythm, open to chance, at the same time is that of
the anticipated future. Finally, temporal mimesis is approximated to some poems by J. Brossa, whether
visual, action-spectacle, or poem-object.

The Idea Is(art project)
byFernando Gerheim, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
The proposal is to carry out an artistic work in which a certain space will be occupied with object poems
and visual poems that relate the dimensions of reading and seeing. In the image, crumbs of breakfast
bread are used to write the letter “A.” The idea is to form letters “A” from the leftovers around thespace, be it food from a fraternization or any other dispersed material. In another image, we see a visual
poem in which the reading is done through a “jump” from the sheet of paper to space and vice versa.
This movement makes present, at the same time, the idea of jump as origin, the idea of image as
metamorphosis, and the idea of writing as transit between what is close and what is far.
Fernando Gerheim is writer, artist and professor at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Programa de PósGraduação em Artes Visuais - EBA and Programa de Pós-Graduação em Artes da Cena - ECO. He is author of
Signofobia (Ed. 7 Letras, 2022), Infinitômetros (Ed. 7 Letras, 2018) and Linguagens Inventadas - palavra imagem
objeto: formas de contágio (Ed. Zahar, 2008). He also directed the short films Salomé (2011) and Urubucamelô(2002), among others.
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The Nature of Human Destructiveness
byAlbina Gimkaeva, Lomonosov Moscow State University
The essence of human nature seems to be one of the most difficult areas to study, but at the same time
it remains a topical issue. The focus of this research presentation is on the destructive nature of man.
Human destructiveness is expressed in various manifestations. One form of destruction is selfdestruction, which can include, for instance, bad personal habits such as use of alcohol, drugs, andsmoking. But human destruction can also take place on a larger scale and can manifests itself, for instance,
in a thirst for blood, disregarding any threats to one’s own self-preservation. Erich Fromm argues that“man is the only individual among mammals capable of sadism and murder on a huge scale.” A numberof studies demonstrate that primitive peoples were much less aggressive than civilized people. For
primitive people the motive for hunting was not the desire to kill, but the desire to improve their skills
in order to survive. In this sense, primitive peoples were characterized by the absence of destructivenessas we know it from the civilized societies. In this relation, questions arise as regards the origin of humandestructiveness, as well as the motives of its appearance, functioning, and persistence. Some researchers
believe that wars are caused by destructiveness which is intrinsic to human nature and which underlies
aggressive behavior. Sigmund Freud does not agree with this position and believes that at the heart of amilitary warfare lies a deeper relational conflict between groups. The root of this conflict could be sought
in research findings attesting that the lower the level of civilization, the less wars there were. The findings
show that the development of technical equipment has played the role to untie the hands of the mankind
for aggression. Thus, it is no longer convincing to explain the manifestation of human destructivenesswith some kind of aggressive animalistic nature. Instead, the development of destructive tendencies canbe associated with social processes and technical progress.
Albina Gimkaeva is a graduate student in Experimental Philosophy of Neurocognitive Sciences, an academic programin the Faculty of Philosophy at Lomonosov Moscow State University. Her PhD thesis is on topic “The Relationshipbetween Self-development and Self-destruction.”

Challenging the Binary Principle: Contemporary LGBTQ+ Wiccan Practice in the Berkano
Wicca Tradition in Hungary
byAmirul Haqqi, University of Szeged, Hungary
Wicca is one of the fast-growing New Religious Movements (NRM) of the 21st century, although its
roots can be traced back to the early 20th century. This article focuses on the analysis of LGBTQ+
Wicca practitioners’ practices, with a special interest in the representative aspects, such as altars andhome altars. This element of the material dimension (from the seven dimensions of Ninian Smart), will
illustrate how LGBTQ+ practitioners challenge the binary aspects of Wicca and how they utilize theliminal aspects of gender. With guided interviews, this article illustrates and provides a deeper
understanding of how the traditional Wicca binarity – of a God and Goddess – is changed according to
the given individuals’ sexual orientations and how these individuals innovate their altars, reinterpret thetraditional Wicca worldview, and religious practice to create a closer, more personal religious attachment.
Through interviews, this article also aims to provide an insight into the issue of former religious trauma
and experience in Wicca. Despite the fact that gender and sexuality are fundamental theological issues
for many current Pagan traditions, researchers are just now beginning to examine their position in the
movement critically. Furthermore, while topics like transgender, ethical non-monogamy, multiplepartner relationships, sky-clad ritual, and BDSM are frequently discussed among Pagans, they are mostly
treated as footnotes in assessments of Pagan spirituality. About gender and sexuality spectrum, their16

Wicca beliefs accommodate their identity very well, most of them skew and modify the rituals and praxis
in their own way, so that they can be the most comfortable and at ease with their religious belief. My
original hypothesis that LGBTQ+ Wiccan use the adjective of Wicca, which is a belief that isuniversalistic yet so individualistic, is correct, because they use Wicca as a tool of self-expression
regardless of their sex, or gender, and/or sexual identity. They use different kinds of objects for theirritual to accommodate their needs, they also reinvent and reinterpret their Wiccan beliefs for their own
good, so that they can be the best version of themselves. This article then closes with a positive statementthat Wicca is a religion that can be modified accordingly to fit within the framework of the given
individual.
Keywords: Wicca, Hungary, LGBTQ+, gender and sexuality, binary, God and Goddess, reinterpretation,
flexibility.

Painting and Three-dimensional Pieces: An Art Perspective on Ceramic and SculpturebyGabriele Künne, Artist
In my art work, I combine painting and three-dimensional pieces. Since 2008, ceramic has played anincreasingly important role in my sculptural works. Instead of using traditional modelling, I opt for thefolding and processing of evenly rolled out surfaces. In doing so, I avoid specific traces and marks in mywork, and instead I utilize smooth, almost industrial looking surfaces. I see the one-sided glazing as
connoting an inside and an outside, as indicated by the utilitarian ceramic, and I draw attention to whatmarginalized or hidden.
In my opinion, over the course of the continuous mechanization, rationalization, digitization andcategorization, little space has been left for an irrational, associative perception and thinking aligned with
sensual mysteriousness. I aim to gain back that space and rehabilitate all the positive but sidelined aspectsof the human world perspective.
Gabriele Künne is a German artist currently based in Berlin. She studied Painting and Sculpture at the Berlin Academyof Fine Arts (Hochschule der Künste Berlin) with Professor Leiko Ikemura. She also did a Postgraduate Course at theRoyal Academy of Fine Art in Stockholm for one year. She has exhibited her artwork throughout much of Europe,
including the Kunsthalle Mannheim, the Centro d´arte Madrid, the Museum in Greifswald, the Museum in
Vaasa/Finland, the Kunstverein Tiergarten Berlin, and others. Her works can be found also in the Hypo Bank Collectionin Munich, the Collection of the Ministry of Culture of Rhineland-Palatinate, and in some private Collections. Her
publications include Error in the Course of Events (2011) and Installations 2010-15 (2015). Since 2015, sheconcentrates on installation with ceramics, but also other material which is suitable for her ideas.

Ancestral WisdombyCamila Morais, Visual Artist
Melgga, Artist
This performance is a ritual evoking the individual and collective memory of our grandmothers. Throughsymbologies and stimulation of our senses, we awaken our affective memories and vivify our ancestors.
In our contemporary age, the knowledge of the elderly has lost much of its transmissibility due to thetechnological acceleration of our lives in which screen culture and certified profiles seem to takeinformational precedence over the wisdom of our ancestors. Evoking our ancestors makes us not forget
their importance, serving us with their life experience, as well as with the care and affections conservedin our memory. (30 min + Q & A)
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Camila Morais is a Brazilian visual artist whose work has a focus on the issue of the feminine and femininity.
Melgga is a Brazilian artist whose work offers a reflection on rituals, the black body, and ancestry.

Endless War(a work-in-progress film-research)byAntoine de Mena, artist
Between São Paulo and the small agricultural town of Bastos, interior of São Paulo State, Brazil, ahistorical episode haunts the Japanese community: the imperial defeat of 1945 and the fratricidal warthat bloodied it from January 1946 to February 1947, with terrorist attacks, mass scam and struggles for
power. But behind this tragic episode, a larger confrontation appears, that of colonial order anddestruction, which indistinctly involves human beings, animals, plant species, and entire ecosystems.
(30 minutes + 15 minutes Q&A)
Antoine de Mena is a French-Spanish artist, filmmaker, poet, and translator. He currently lives and works in Rio deJaneiro. He holds a Master’s degree in Asian Studies – Japanese Language and Culture (INALCO, Paris, France /Tokyo University of Foreign Studies), Master’s degree in Documentary Creation and New Technologies (Université dePoitiers, France) and Bachelor’s in History and Social Sciences (Paris IV-Sorbonne, Paris, France). Coordinator at
xow.rumi cultural space (Glória-RJ) and member of the Eiras-Paracambi research group. Email:antoinedemena@gmail.com

Past and Future Reflections(Art Show)by
Stoyan Minkov
In my work, I never thought I follow a plan. Ideas come spontaneously as born out of my experience.
Sometimes I stay for days in front of the white canvas, not knowing where I go, then I run away, chasedby scenes and images. Now that I have to think about it, in my works I have always sought the possibility
for two extremes, and sometimes more, to coexist without conflict and without hierarchy, in harmony,in composition, no matter how distant they are from each other: two worlds, two systems, the spiritualand the material, tenderness and roughness, whole and ruins. The idea of coexistence in harmony, in amore just world, is perhaps born out of a conjecture of the utopias of past eras and the dystopia of thepresent. Out of the chaos of the present, I aim to build a harmonious utopia in which all and everythingfind their important and valuable place: the white maiden and the Gypsy Nikolinka, the tenderness ofyouth and the bang of rock and roll, the dream and the reality. In my experience, the past and present
appear very much in the form of bombardment of images, pictures, and emotions, which I try to unite
and bind in a narrative of colors, regardless of their differences, as coexisting in harmony.
Past and Future Reflections(Art Show Annotation)by
Stoyan Minkov
Stoyan Minkov is a Bulgarian painter who has been living and working in Brazil for the last 17 years.
Minkov's work has evolved significantly since his early days as a painter. His recent works are inspiredby a dystopian future, characterized by eclectic elements, allegories, and collage-like compositions of18

many figures. Minkov creates his works in oil on large-scale canvases, which Stoyan Minkov the intensityof his subjects.
Minkov's work is heavily influenced by the Flemish painter Heronimos Bosh, whose intricate andsurrealistic depictions of the world have had a significant impact on his artistic vision. However, Minkov
takes this influence and creates a unique perspective on the future or no-future of humanity.
His works often portray a devastating reality, where suffering, pain, and fear are omnipresent.
However, despite the bleakness of his vision, Minkov does not lose sight of the human capacity for hopeand resilience. His compositions convey also a "desire to escape" from the present reality, while also
reminding us of the beauty and complexity of the human experience.
One of Minkov’s recent works, titled "Run Fast," captures the sense of urgency and the need foraction in the face of a world that is in many ways rapidly deteriorating. The painting depicts a figure
running at full speed, with a blurred background representing the uncertainty and chaos of the world.
The painting speaks of Minkov's sense of the future and his awareness of how things are with the world.
He explores the variations of what we want and what is possible, without losing sight of the realities ofthe present.
Another painting by Minkov, titled "Life is Going Well," depicts a chaotic scene, with multiple figures
jumbled together, each seemingly lost in their own thoughts and experiences. The painting expresses theabsence of hope as perceivable despair and fear, but also the idea that pain and suffering can make us
believe that everything will be better. The painting serves as a reminder of the human experience andour ability to persevere, even in the darkest of times.
Overall, Stoyan Minkov's recent works offer a powerful and emotional perspective on the future ofhumanity. His paintings convey a sense of urgency, while also celebrating the beauty and complexity of
the human experience. His works remind us of the importance of hope and resilience in the face ofadversity, and the need to stay grounded in the present while keeping an eye towards the future.
Stoyan Minkov is a Bulgarian painter, living in Brazil for 20 years. He attended the school of visual arts at ParqueLage, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), as well as the practical courses of Charles Watson, Prof. Jailton
Moreira, Ateliê Arte e Pensamento, and Prof. Frederico Carvalho. He has exhibited his work at numerous art venues,
including UFF Arts Center, Titocar Poetic Space (Brazil), Graffiti Gallery (Varna, Bulgaria), and Campagna dei
Cadduti (Trento Italy).

Diverse Colors of Culture and Sandby
Akiko Nakayama
I am a painter who depicts the beauty of conveying energy metamorphosis through several media, suchas installation and Live-painting. While researching as a visual artist, I was interested in the history ofcolors, such as mud paints and mineral pigments. Because of factors of production, local materials ofcolor are still linked to the culture and values of regions or countries and had withstood the challengesof time to continue to exist to this day. In my style as an artist, I traveled to artist-in-residences andperformances abroad. I started walking around lakes and rivers, thinking that more unique colors might
be laid out over millions of years specific to various other places.
Among the discoveries I found interesting, I will present examples of works that use local sand fromplaces like Lake Towada, Luxembourg, and Saudi Arabia.
Akiko Nakayama is a Japanese artist exploring the intersections between panting, sound, and performance. She calls
her work "alive painting," and has already presented it around the Eastern and Western parts of the globe. Her artistic
interests and curiosities include the cross-cultural understanding of the language of art, as well as the interactions between
artistic and discursive languages. Email: akiko@akiko.co.jp; http://akiko.co.jp

19Collective Responsibility and the Metaphysics of Personal Identity
byPadriac Amato Tahua O’Leary, University of Auckland
I seek to challenge the assumption that collective responsibility only makes sense insofar as collections
like corporations or cultures impact the well-being of individual persons. I think the key assumption that
motivates this position is that the objects that are the seat of moral regard are just persons and nothingelse. For my purposes here I will allow the primacy of persons as objects of moral regard as prima faciereasonable. I will then argue that considerations from the metaphysics of personal identity, combinedwith relevant analogies between persons and other collections of person parts (like corporations orcultures), provide an argument for the transfer of moral regard from persons to these other collectionsof person parts. The argument is relatively simple. Assuming that whole persons deserve moral regard I
argue that by decomposition and causal dependence person parts deserve moral regard. Then bycomposition and harm analogies between persons and cultures I argue that cultures in turn deserve akind of independent non-derivative moral regard themselves.
I then consider the main objection to the relevance of the harm analogies – that they don't track what
it is that makes persons deserving of moral regard. That is, if we explain why persons deserve moral
regard, we discover that it is some complex of psychological properties that explain why persons deserve
moral regard. The two classes of psychological properties I think are most likely to succeed here are thepossession of qualitative states or qualia and, alternatively or as well, the possession of the requisites ofreason that being capable of ratiocination require.
In reply, I argue that possession of qualia constitutes only a sufficient condition for deserving moral
regard not a necessary one. And as to ratiocination I argue that collections of person parts like culturesand corporations are precisely independently morally interesting because they possess analogues of themental states that ground ratiocination. At this point I rest.
Dr. Padriac Amato Tahua O’Leary is a Ph.D. in Analytic Meta-Ethics with a thesis on grounding an objective
rationalist Humean ethics in contingent conditions of human evolution. Latterly, he is a postdoctoral researcher at the
Natural, Artificial, and Organizational Institute at the University of Auckland (New Zealand) with research topics
including – digitizing Maori cuture (whakapapa), training AI to observe the behavior of social groups and make inferences
about their rule following behavior, and the creation of an artificial ecology to place cooperative bots in subjecting them toanalogues of evolutionary pressure, and ethics and AI.

Chenga Ruwara, Part TwobyEduardo Pacheco (Ducha), Dadá Artist
I am not an artist, nor an indigenous person, nor am I a trained ethnologist. So why would the Aché
hunter-gatherers of Paraguay be the object of my attention? The French anthropologist Pierre Clastres,in the subtitle of his book La Chronique des Indiens Guayaki, asks himself: What do the Aché Guayaki
know? This ethnic group has managed to pass virtually untouched throughout history. The oldest reports
we have about Aché Guayaki come from the Jesuit missionaries and state that they were cannibals.
Guarany, their indigenous neighbors, called them “rats of the bush” or Guayaki. They call themselves
Achés, which means “persons” or “people.” They crop absolutely nothing, living exclusively fromhunting and gathering fruits, as well as larvae and honey. They speak a language with Guarany
grammatical influences but incomprehensible to a modern Guarany speaker. They were regarded as wild
animals by their own indigenous neighbors, as cannibals by the Jesuits, as thieves of cows and horses by
farmers. Aché Guayaki lived through the colonial process holed up in their forest and managed to survive
the war of the triple alliance. It was only in the second half of the XXth century that, trapped by the
monoculture agriculture of multinational corporations and the construction of roads that their isolation
became impossible. Some archaeologists suggest a centuries-old isolation, an occupation upon the arrivalof the current Guarany, an approximation and subsequent deguaranization of its economy. It is as if
agriculture had been introduced to them but did not leave any trace on their culture, as they deliberately
20

reverted to the hunter-gatherer way of life. But when Clastres heard about an Aché group of 60
individuals that had approached a Paraguayan farm in search of support, the Frenchman had no doubts:
he organized an expedition to the territories of eastern Paraguay to search for more on the culture andknowledge of the Aché people.
Eduardo Pacheco (Ducha) is a Dadá artist since he first heard about it. He graduated in painting at UFRJ
(2000) and only drinks water from his stream in Teresópolis, Brazil.

The Art of Chalk Carving
byDr. Mriganka Sankar Poddar, Mahadevananda Mahavidyalaya, West Bengal State University
Usually what we do with a piece of chalk is that we write something on a black board to give a lesson,or to instruct people in a class. But the same chalk can be used as art medium to make figure of different
kinds. This is well known as “the art of chalk carving.” To carve a chalk we need a sharp knife, a needle,
as well as a sharp air blow through mouth to remove dust that comes out after each carving. The fact isthis is not a well known type of art. Artist Ramita Bhaduri is the first to introduce it in India and she isalso the pioneer in chalk sculpture. For more than two decades she has created a huge variety of artistic
shapes and compositions using this kind of small object which is dusty and breakable. Chalk is a soft,white, sedimentary carbonate rock, which is known in chemistry by the name calcium carbonate(CaCO3). There are two types of chalk – natural and processed. Natural chalks are relatively harder thanprocessed ones, whereas the fact that processed chalks are softer than the natural makes them usable forboard-writing and for carving. The carver holds the chalk with her fingers, and provided that the grip isloose and smart, she starts carving it with even pressure with the help of the utensils used. I would liketo present a session on chalk carving and to discuss it in a global perspective.
Key words: Chalk, Chalk carving, Ramita Bhaduri, Calcium Carbonate

Exercising Yoga for Spiritual Awakening
byDr. Mriganka Sankar Poddar, Mahadevananda Mahavidyalaya, West Bengal State University
Yogic practices in India, as the path towards spirituality, have always been prescribed by the sages. Yoga
brings psycho-physiological benefits for all those who adhere to it as a part of their everyday life. Fromancient to modern times, among all spiritual practices in Indian, “yoga” plays an important and distinct
role. In the Gita, we see Sri Krishna to admit of yoga as the key to achieving a peaceful life. We can thinkof yoga also as a value with regard to the wellbeing of humanity as a whole, as we can find in it a handymeans that can be used to establish a much desired global peace. For, yoga is not meant for the Rishis
alone but for all and everyone. Whoever they may be, whatever their class, race, community, and gender,
they can still make the choice to adhere to the practice yoga. The Yoga tradition includes Hatha Yoga,
Raja Yoga, as well as other different forms such as Kriya Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, etc. The purpose of yoga is
to cultivate its practitioner as a spiritual and good human being. A good many of the modern day people
understand yoga as a combination of physical and mental exercises. But we need to keep in mind thatyoga is much more than that, and that it guides people to achieve spiritual awakening that can free themfrom all kinds of physical and mental unsettlements. I would like to demonstrate that yoga can help us
do better and achieve peace at any level, even as today we find ourselves always busy and with ‘no time’for yoga in our daily lives.
Key words: spirituality, yoga, the Gita, hatha yoga, kriya yoga, kundalini yoga, spiritual
awakening21Dr. Mriganka Sankar Poddar (M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D.) is an assistant professor of philosophy at Mahadevananda
Mahavidyalaya (under the affiliation of West Bengal State University, India). He specializes in logic, philosophy oflanguage, and comparative religion. Dr Poddar is also a certified yoga instructor by the Ministry of Ayush, Govetnmen ofIndia. He is specifically engaged in experimental studies and practice of yoga as means of individual spiritual awakening
and global peace. He also does creative work in chalk carving, clay modelling, composing music, as well as writing lyrics
and poetry.

What is a Globie? A Postmodern Phenomenon of World Migration and CitizenshipbyRossen Roussev, St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo
I will advance the term globie as a philosophical neologism that describes a combination of modern-day
migration and citizenship, which has been steadily getting ground in our increasingly globalized world tothe point of acquiring the features of a distinctive culture.
Put provisionally, globie can be described as a peculiar type of modern-day person, who can move todifferent parts of the globe for purposes of employment, creative work, exploration, value system,
spirituality, living, or simply adventure. The globie comes from one cultural tradition to enter intoanother and is thus an emulation of a global cultural encounter in the most immediate sense. Globie ismost generally defined by their outlook on the world, which need not be necessarily made explicit or put
in a declarative form but could simply be identified as phenomenon along elements of one's lifestyle.
Globie thus will be defined by a certain way of thinking and action, which can be also seen as bothworldview and value system.
I shall first endeavor a preliminary description of the phenomenon of globie, which will provide us
with a general, even if crude, working basis for further additions and clarifications of its sense. I shallthen relate it to the notion of ‘migrant’, into whose category globie seems to fall at first glance. Next, I
associate globie with a notion of ‘citizen of the world’, or ‘cosmopolitan’, which globie seems to emulate
in a most literal sense. And finally, I will project the notion of the globie in a philosophical perspective
where it can be apperceived as a worldview, value system, and culture within certain concepts of thephilosophical tradition.
Dr. Rossen Roussev is Associate Professor of Contemporary Philosophy at “St. Cyril and St. Methodius” Universityof Veliko Tarnovo. He has been a Visiting Professor at the National Academy of Theater and Film Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria;
North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh; and the Kazakh British Technical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan. He
has be also Assistant Professor at Kyungpook National University, Daegu, S. Korea, and at St. John’s University in
New York. He also taught at the University of Aktobe, the City University of New York, and Mercy College in New
York. He obtained his doctorate in philosophy from The New School for Social Research in New York (2005). His
publications and interests are in phenomenology, post-structuralism, philosophy of language, critical theory, philosophy ofart, and philosophy of culture. Email: r.roussev@ts.uni-vt.bg

Confluence of cultures in Deep Ecology: A Philosophical Exploration
byPriyambada Sarkar, University of Calcutta
Deep Ecology is one of the most important environmental philosophies of our time. Arne Naess, thefounder of deep ecology movement, elucidated eight-point platform to encapsulate its main claims, ofwhich Bio-spheric egalitarianism, Symbiosis, caring for the richness and diversity of life-forms, andecosophy T are philosophically important. In this paper, I will discuss the influence of Indian philosophy
on these concepts as involved in deep ecology. Arne Naess himself quotes in his writings verse 6.29 of
the Bhagavadgita, a sacred religious text of the Hindus, as influencing his thoughts on deep ecology. This22

verse is important in the sense that it points to the oneness of all living beings, which ultimately leads toone’s own self-realization.
Not only that, Naess often admits that “his work on the philosophy of ecology, or ecosophy T,
developed out of his work on Spinoza and Gandhi and his relationship with the mountains of Norway.”1
The word ecosophy is a combination of the Greek words oikos (household) and sophia (wisdom) and thus
refers to the philosophical wisdom concerning our household. The “T” stands for Tvergastein, where
he has done his most productive philosophical thinking and writings. Ecosophy is a personal philosophyof life aiming for ecological wisdom and harmony, which puts emphasis on the concept of self-realization,i.e. extension of oneself and realization of oneself in everything, which is again directly related with theverse 6.29 of Bhagvadgita and the philosophy of Upanishads.
However, although the author directly acknowledges his influences, this is not as linear as it may
appear. The scholar gets puzzled by the vexing questions: How could ecosophy T, the personal philosophyof nature and environment be developed out of the staunch idealistic tradition of the Upanishads andBhagvadgita? How could it be even influenced by the philosophy of Gandhi? Does it imply that thephilosophy of Gandhi deviated from those of the Upanishads and Bhagvadgita? This paper will be an
attempt to sort out these questions and analyze how one could interpret Deep Ecology and ecosophy T asa product of confluence of cultures.
Priyambada Sarkar is currently a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India. She obtained
her PhD from King’s College, University of London. She has published 4 books: 1) Language, Limits and Beyond(Oxford University Press, 2021); 2) Wittgenstein and Solipsism (Progressive Publishers, 2009); 3) The later Philosophyof Ludwig Wittgenstein (in Bengali) (2009); 4) An Introduction to Frege’s Theory of Sense and Reference (in Bengali)(2007). She edited 6 books on epistemology, ethics, and post-modernism. She published 34 research papers in various
national and international journals, as well as 8 book chapters in different edited volumes.

‘Me, an Occasional Metalsmith’: Art, Craft and Everyday Lifeby
Ve-Yin Tee, Nanzan University
Currently based in Mie Prefecture, Nozomu Shibata was brought to international attention by Jay
Strongman in Steampunk: The Art of Victorian Futurism (2011). Though Shibata’s sculptures cover a myriadof marine and terrestrial life forms, ever since he forged a steampunk-style octopus in 2014 for theMonterey Bay Aquarium, California, his overseas commissions have invariably been for similar pieces.
He does not identify as a steampunk artist, however, as the quotation in my title of a talk he gave at myuniversity in 2018 suggests. There are several reasons why he keeps the term ‘steampunk’ at arm’s length.
First of all, the Japanese word for steampunk (i.e., スチームパンク) has very limited currency. (Shibata
himself had never heard of the expression until it was used by a foreign visitor to his exhibition.) Its
aesthetic is much more broadly understood to include both ‘science fiction’ (サイエンス・フィクション) and ‘gothic’ (ゴシック), and he has been uncomfortable with the highly commodified youth
culture with which these terms have been associated. His preference is to see himself as a craftsman, andspecifically an exponent of the ancient technique of tankin (鍛金) or ‘metalsmithing’. Apart from themetal sculptures, he also forges a great number of everyday, functional items including metal clocks,
watches, light fixtures, sake cups, photo frames, and paper knives.
Clare Nally’s Steampunk (2019) has communicated to us the breadth of steampunk as a culturalexpression, and Kathe Hicks Albrecht’s strategy of reading it as an aesthetic in The Machine Anxieties of
Steampunk (2022) offers a way to keep abreast of it as a diverse and rapidly developing international
phenomenon. They however overstate the progressive politics of steampunk, which I will mitigate withan analysis of Shibata’s vexed relations to it both as a foreign cultural imposition and as domestic youth
culture. Borrowing Albrecht’s understanding of steampunk aesthetics as a reaction against Modernism,
I will bring into the discussion the ethos of the Arts and Crafts movement, to which Modernism itself

1Bill Devall and George Sessions, Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered, Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith, 1985, p.225.
23

can be understood as a reaction. Connecting the practices of Shibata to mingei (民芸) or ‘people’s art’, I
will highlight the egalitarian vision of the artist as craftsman and his desire to elevate all work to the levelof craft, which continue to survive in a parallel development in Japan’s Arts and Crafts movement, andwhich I argue are needed more than ever on our divided, unequal, and environmentally damaged world.
Dr. Ve-Yin Tee is an Associate Professor in the Department of British and American Studies, Nanzan University,
Japan. He is the author of Coleridge, Revision and Romanticism: After the Revolution, 1793-1818 (London, 2009), as
well as the teen novel On Donuts and Telekinesis (Singapore, 2014). His most recent publication is the edited collectionof essays Romantic Environmental Sensibility: Nature, Class and Empire (Edinburgh, 2022).

Iris Murdoch and Yukio Mishimaby
Fiona Tomkinson, Nagoya University
The influence of Japan on the British-Irish author Iris Murdoch was complex and pervaded both hernovels and her philosophical writing. In this presentation I shall focus on an area of influence as yet
unexplored by Murdoch scholars – that of Yukio Mishima. Mishima is explicitly referenced in
Murdoch’s final novel, Jackson’s Dilemma, where the artist Owen Silbury indulges his sado-masochistic
tendencies with fantasies about Mishima’s suicide by seppuku. I shall argue that he is also a significant
presence, though more obliquely alluded to, in her fiction of the 1970s and 80s. In this presentation I
shall focus on the relationship between his masterpiece, The Sea of Fertility, and Murdoch's 1980 novel,
Nuns and Soldiers. The key to the relationship between the two works is Murdoch's allusion to an episodefrom the first volume of the tetralogy, Spring Snow (Haru no Yuki 春の雪) (English translation 1972) inwhich the ominous appearance of a drowned black dog in a waterfall during an early encounter between
the star-crossed lovers Kiyo and Satoko, prefigures their tragic fate - Satako will enter a convent andKiyo will die at the age of twenty. This episode is echoed in Nuns and Soldiers by the appearance in a
French canal of first a drowned and later a drowning dog being sucked into the ‘horizontal waterfall’ ofa tunnel. The latter incident almost leads to the death of one of the characters, Tim Reede, but turns
out happily - he escapes, this time the dog does not drown, and the incident turns out to be instrumental
in bringing about a happy ending for him and his estranged wife, Gertrude. Tracing the full significanceof the waterfall incident in Mishima and its centrality to the theme of reincarnation suggests why
Murdoch would have been struck with this particular passage. Once the link with Mishima is recognized,
Nuns and Soldiers can also be read as a reworking of Mishima's themes; the novel gives us a number ofheroic confrontations with death which resonate with Mishima’s seppuku and that of his protagonist Isao
in the second volume of the tetralogy, but the reversing of plot-devices suggests a more life-affirming
ethics celebrating everyday happiness: a nun renounces her vocation and a soldier-like character
renounces the thought of suicide.
Dr. Fiona Tomkinson is Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Humanities at Nagoya University, where she
has taught since April 2017. Prior to that, she lectured in the English Department at Yeditepe University, Istanbul(1997-2017), and also gave occasional Philosophy classes at Yeditepe and Boğaziçi Universities. She holds a B.A. and
M.A. in English Language and Literature from Oxford University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy from Boğaziçi
University. She has published widely in the areas of literature and philosophy, and is currently researching the influence ofCentral and East Asian religion, philosophy and mythology on British authors of the twentieth century, including Iris
Murdoch, Lawrence Durrell and Ted Hughes. Email: fgtomkinson@yahoo.co.uk

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