The time after

The starting point for the annual theme of the artsprogram and the Arts & Humanities LAB is the observation that we are living in a time in which many things that are taken for granted in liberal societies have been irretrievably lost. A long period of stable political conditions and reliable calculations based on basic economic and international legal assumptions seems to be over. There is talk of the 'end of the West'. Geopolitically, planetarily and ecologically, but also in our individual experience, we are entering a new phase.

Under the title "The time after", we want to look at historical and biographical constellations after incisive historical or traumatizing events that had to do with similar upheavals. We are referring to the post-war period, times after revolutions, major natural disasters and civilizational upheavals or after the abrupt end of certain forms of rule and life, such as after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

On the one hand, we want to ask how history is processed or repressed in these phases and how new ideas about the future emerge at the same time. Is the future in the "time after" only thought of as a phase in which everything bad is hopefully over and forgotten or everything good is considered lost and mourned? What does it mean to speak of the zero hour? What does it mean for our view of the future if the present is seen as a turning point? We would like to address these questions using very different, but also very concrete historical examples. To this end, we are planning a lecture series, a symposium and an exhibition with a growing participatory archive on Friedrichshafen 1946.

Lecture series and symposium

In the lecture series, sociologists, cultural scientists and philosophers will discuss in 8 lectures and a symposium how recourse to the past is shaped after traumatic biographical experiences, wars, revolutions and natural disasters and how the future can be conceived under such circumstances. Lecture topics include "The art of zero hour. Pathologies of a war generation" (Karen van den Berg), "2046. One year after the technological singularity" (Jan Söffner), "Cultural policy after the "Arab Spring" (Meike Lettau). The lecture series will conclude with a symposium in cooperation with the Kunsthaus Bregenz, in which the philosopher Armen Avanessian, the sociologist Dirk Baecker and the sociologist Eva Illouz will discuss how thinking and feeling can change after incisive, sometimes traumatizing historical events. Jewish star scientist Eva Illouz will talk about her book "October 8", Dirk Baecker about the "noise of information" and thinking without subjects and Armen Avanessian about "vibe shifts".

Tue, 03 February 2026, 7:15 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Karen van den Berg: The Art of the Zero Hour. Pathologies of a War Generation

Tue, 10 February 2026, 7:15 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Joachim Landkammer: From Expulsion to Termination Without Notice 

– A Brief Typology of Expulsion

Tue, 17 February 2026, 7:15 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Jan Söffner: 2046. One Year After Technological Singularity

Tue, 24 February 2026, 7:15 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Udo Göttlich: Unsustainability

Tue, 10 March 2026   7:15 p.m.  - 10:00 p.m.

Meike Lettau: Cultural policy after the ‘Arab Spring’

and

Florian Muhle: Digital workers of the world, unite - Organizational problems in the age of the platform economy

Venue: Zeppelin University, ZF Campus, Black Box

The Time After

A symposium on contemporary issues

21 March 2026, 2 p.m.— 6.30 p.m.

Location: Kunsthaus Bregenz, Karl-Tizian-Platz, A-6900 Bregenz

An era of seemingly stable political conditions and shared fundamental principles of international law is behind us. Are we living in a turning point in history? In a world that has been profoundly changed by radical algorithmisation and total digitalisation? In a time after momentous historical events such as those described by Eva Illouz in her book The 8th of October? Are we driven by debates about ‘wokeness’ and the rhythm of constant ‘vibe shifts’? Or is the impression of ever-new upheavals and paradigm shifts deceptive?

Under the title The Time After, philosopher Armen Avanessian, sociologist Dirk Baecker and sociologist Eva Illouz "After October 7th: Ideological confusion and Semantic collapse" discuss how thinking and feeling can change after momentous, sometimes even traumatic historical events.

Eva Illouz: "After October 7th: Ideological confusion and Semantic collapse"

October 7th has marked either a rupture with prior modes of discourse or the accomplishment of logics which were at work in the public sphere but went undetected.

The "after" of October 7th concerns the deep confusion which is now generalized to the public sphere, with the appropriation by antagonist groups of the same moral vocabulary. Opposing political groups do not hold opposite core moral principles but rather share them with their opponents. This lecture attempts to describe such ideological confusion.

The event will be moderated by Karen van den Berg and students from Zeppelin University.