2026
I gave a talk, thanks to the handsome invitation of Elena Romagnoli and Alberto L. Siani in the colloquium Performing Bodies at the University of Pisa January 20-24, 2026 – a university where I roamed on Manuela Paschi’s and Adriano Fabris great lectures on hermeneutics nearly 30 years ago as an Erasmus student. I was an emotional trip – I took some long walks in a town where I once lived – but it was also a great philosophical experience to discuss body philosophy together with so many friends and witty colleagues, like Andrea Mecacci, Alessandro Bertinetto, Paul Kottman, Stefano Marino, Johann Michel, Barbara Formis, Falk Heinrich and Elisabetta Di Stefano.
2025
I gave a talk on Medieval Heritage in the Aesthetics of Popular Culture at Szeged University in Hungary November 27, and had a great discussions with the audience. A text about this is on the way out, by the way, in a book edited by Zoltán Somhegyi and Derek Mattravers, but while the chapter is about the need to look at the aesthetics of popular culture to understand our consumption of heritage, the talk here was a bit more on Medieval culture and its commercial appropriations, from a philosophical point of view. I must say that the philosophy department really left a good impression. Many pleasant intellectual scholars with a good sense of humor!
My keynote talk “Noisy Anti-Revolutions: Notes on Critical Theory and the Aesthetic Nature of Metal Music,” in the conference The Aesthetics of Music, at the Nisville Jazz Festival in Nis, Serbia (inv. Dusan Milenkovic), was a fun experience – as the whole conference is a ‘parasite’ of a great jazz festival, where the evenings were full of gigs. There were plenty of good talks around, e.g. human noise in metal music and socialist music practices, and I met plenty of fun people. The gigs that I saw were great, including Billy Cobham’s band. The conference gave a lot, and it maybe led even to a new book joining our book series, the Palgrave Studies in the Philosophy of Popular Culture.
I was proud and happy to give the keynote talk “Can Aesthetics of Popular Culture Help Us to Make Sense of Heritage?” in the conference Aesthetics and the Management of Heritage at Churchill College, Cambridge University UK, 11-12 July 2025. The event was great, including many inspiring scholars, and organized by the Open University, Churchill College and the British Journal of Aesthetics (Derek Mattravers). I had never visited Cambridge and it was fancy to do my visit there in this role. I am increasingly thinking that heritage is actually a practice happening more in the sphere of popular culture than art, if these two poles were the choices we had for frameworks. A text (chapter) about this is soon coming out in a book edited by Derek Mattravers and Zoltán Somhegyi.
“Descriptive Aesthetics,” in the keynote panel on Arnold Berleant’s life work, at the annual Conference of Lahti Institute of Applied Aesthetics 10-12 June 2025, was my ode to Arnold Berleant’s work, in a panel were also e.g. Arto Haapala, Fotini Vassilioi and Harri Mäcklin were talking. I think descriptive aesthetics is something that we should learn more from, i.e. Berleant’s idea that we need to systematize the way we describe aesthetics situations, to get a richer understanding of what we talk about.
7 March 2025, I gave an invited Plenary Talk, “La società delle cose” (The Society of Things), at Mario Perniola: Arte Linguaggio Società, IPRS / Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy – and the colloquio was a great bunch of talks: I enjoyed listening to friends like Enea Bianchi, but also to people I did not know beforehand, like Caterina di Rienzo and Luigi A. Manfreda, from whom I learned a lot. I talked about Perniola’s thoughts on thingness, but in plural. If we are all more things both concretely (eating e.g. plastic) and in experience (presenting ourselves as “things” in e.g. Instagram, just to name one example), where are going collectively as a society?
2023
June 2, plenary: “Are some of our fears of AI based on category mistakes?” at On Media and the Challenges of Modern Society, at Nis (Serbia) – was a great talk, sadly through Zoom as I had to cancel my trip because my stepson gained his diploma the day after and I needed to be there. Nis has a really nice and active philosophy department, and I am thankful for Ivana Stojanovic for the possibility to do the plenary that way.
April 22, 2023, keynote: “What the humanities can give to engineering,” (Zoom) at the Indian National Conference on Engineering, IMS Engineering College, Ghaziabad, India. Still, in the aftermath of corona, some talks were planned and finally executed via Zoom, and I had a great one with some fun dialogue with the IMS Engineering College at Ghaziabad India, close to Delhi. Discussing one’s research with people from other disciplines can give a new spark for thinking, and I think something like that happened here.
2021
Visiting the podcast of the Finnish Critics’ Association SARV. Petteri Enroth and Matti Tuomela interviewed me and Sini Mononen on research and critique (in Finnish only). Arvostelijapankki-podcast 1/3 Tutkimus ja kritiikki by SARV (soundcloud.com) Published 27.10.2021.
10.2021, “Kala, do, yugei ja festivaali: mitä ”taide”, taiteen tutkimus ja taiteellinen tutkimus voivat oppia vaihtoehtoisista (taide)järjestelmistä?” [Kala, do, yugei and the festival: what could “art”, its research and artistic research learn from alternative art systems?], in Taiteen ja tutkimuksen monet kasvot: Käsitteet, käytännöt ja rajankäynnit, Colloquim organized by the Helsinki University and the University of Arts on Art Research and Artistic Research
October 8, 2021, panel Central Europe in the Center of Attention, at Budapest art fair Art Market, with Alicja Knast, Dorota Monkiewic, Zsofia Bata-Jakab and Zoltan Somhegyi
October 7, 2021, “The Invisible Ethnic Nature of the Western Idea of Critique,” in Diversity and Inclusion in Art Criticism (see video), org. by Shine on Critique and Nordicom
Book presentation of my book On The Philosophy of Central European Art: The History of an Institution and its Global Competitors at the University of Warsaw (Philosophy Department), 12.3.2021, 7 PM. (Zoom.)
February 19-21, 2021, “The World is a Stage: Back to Rasa Theory, or Can the oldest atmosphere theory in the world help us to understand today’s (and our future) aesthetic manipulation?”, Keynote: 5th at, Marginalizing Futures: rethinking embodiment, community and culture, the Forum of The Viennese Society for Intercultural Philosophy & German Society for Intercultural Philosophy.
2020
March 6, 2020: “Equipment as Art, Art as Equipment (Notions on Heidegger’s Philosophy of Art and Culture”, University of Tallinn, Department of Philosophy, Open Talk.
2019
October 22: “Sending Chills Up My Spine: Somatic Film and the Care of the Self”. Keynote. Center / Periphery. The Annual Conference of the Slovak and Czech Societies of Aesthetics. Bratislava.
Invited staff presentation: Aalto ARTS & ViCCA. University of Sharjah at the Emirate of Sharjah (United Arab Emirates) 10.3.2019 (staff talk)
2018
December 5-6: “Cute, Ugly andBeautiful Kitsch” Invited Guest Speaker, Beauty conference (organized by the research project Aesthetics Unlimited), at Roskilde / Copenhagen Universities Denmark.
July 23-24, “New Visual Order: Making Sense of Robot-Driven Cars”. Phenomenology of Changing Life-Worlds: Exploring Human-Machine Interactions at the University of Konstanz (Germany).
May 11, “The Anarchist Banker. Activism, Politics and Visibility.” Appearances of the Political. University of Palermo. Day colloquim with Elisabetta di Stefano, Tonino Griffero, Carsten Friberg, Mateusz Salwa, Margus Vihalem, Rita Messori and Francesca Zanella.
March 23, “The Rasa Industry: Notes on Classical Indian Aesthetics and the Contemporary Aesthetics of Popular Culture,” in Sanskrit Text Conference, organized by the department of world cultures at Helsinki University and the Indian Embassy in Finland and Estonia, at the House of Sciences 23-24.3.2018.
2017
Talk on the future of museums (is there a future?), “Ceci n’est pas une Musee”, at Mériam Korichi’s event Nigh of Philosophy 2 at Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art Helsinki (here’s the PDF for the event).
March 21, “Hegel’s Pipe: Magritte, memes and weak thinking” in Dank Contemporarinites (on post internet art). Org. Dept of Art at Aalto University / Juuso Tervo. Talk and 2 panel discussions. Video here.
2016
Sept 29, “Rock me Amadeus. On the highbrow appropriation of lowbrow culture,” (Keynote) in Fin-de-siecle Popular Culture in the Baltics, Sept 29 – Oct 1, org. by the Institute of Folklore of the University of Latvia (site: National Library of Latvia, Riga)
Feb 2016. In the Jury for the dance film competition 60secondsdance (Helsinki).
2015
May 27-29. In the Jury for the Köler Prize of contemporary art at EKKM, Tallinn Estonia
May 11-12. 2 talks at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Warsaw: “Margins of Modern Aesthetics” and “New Laokoon”
2014
May 13, “Philosophical Notes on the Role of Dramaturgy Today.” New Dramaturgy, New Dramaturg, Nova Drama Festival, Theatre Institute Bratislava, Slovakia
May 10, “Throwing the Body into Fight. Reflection on the Body as Instrument in Arts”, New Baltic Dance Festival / Ne[w]kritika, Vilnius, Lithuania
October 30, “Elävä/kuollut: Venetsian zombie-estetiikkaa” (Living/Dead: The Zombie Aesthetics of Venice), Lahti / International Institute of Applied Aesthetics
2012
March 19-21. “The Producers” (On advising MA and PhD theses in art schools.) Keynote.
Art * Eros * Education at Aalto University, School of Art, Design, and Architecture. Helsinki, Finland.
2011
November 29, “Art Museums as Mass Culture.” Academy of Fine Arts and Design Bratislava (Slovakia).
November 17-18 ‘House commentator’ & final roundup at Touring in Scandinavia and the Baltics – Bridging regional and international perspectives. Coordinators/moderators: Johanna Hammarberg & Martina Marti. Org.: Baltic Circle Theatre Festival, Helsinki, Finland.
October 12-13 “Institutional Stress. Art in the age of education, networking, communication and administration – and a roadmap for emancipation.”
Panel with Paco Barragán (Artpulse), Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger (Finnish Museum of Photography), GILFER, etc. New Rules of Art Policy and Other Fantasies. FRAME fund, Helsinki, Finland.
October 11. Tanssiteatteri ERI: ERI-klubi. Teema: Punakone. Luento: (Jääkiekon) yhteispelin kauneus.
2010
October 22-23 “No wipeouts, no real reward? Against (mainstream) camp. Or camp against the professional.” Keynote. 2 panels including Ondrej Herec, Ewa Golebiowska, Marek Brieska, Veronika Burian, Petr Skala, and Johanna Bilak. KUPÉ 6. Qualitative criteria of design in the centre and on the periphery. Stanica, Zilina, Slovakia.
April 28-29. ”Art vs. mass culture. The lost case of the yellow press.”
Panel with Åsa Nacking (Kunsthalle Lund), Joan Müller (Kunstverein Düsseldorf) & Marianne Heier. Mod. Jonas Ekeberg.
Siting the Position of the Kunsthalle. Kunstnernes hus, Oslo, Norway.
2009
April 5. “Contemporary networking, contemporary self-management – or contemporary art?” IHME 2009, Helsinki, Session “What is good art? What is expertise?”
Panel with Bartomeu Marí (MACBA Barcelona), Olle Granath (Royal Swedish Academy of Arts), Maija Tanninen-Mattila (Ateneum) and Otso Kantokorpi.
2008
March 11. ”Estetiska debatter i ishockeyvärlden” (Aesthetic debates in the world of ice hockey.) University of Uppsala, Department of Philosophy / Aesthetics, Research Seminar
March 7. “Pinkkiä posliinia. Huonon maun historiaa ja nykypäivää”
Studia Generalia, Kuka mistäkin tykkää, University of Joensuu & Joensuu Open University.
March 5 “Taideteos kuratoinnin ja verkostoitumisen aikakaudella”
Überkuraattori, seremoniamestari, makutuomari. Kuratoinnin ammatin monet kasvot. Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art Helsinki, SKY (Suomen Kuraattorien Yhdistys).
2007 November 19 & 24. 2 Panels at Baltic Circle Theatre Festival with Malla Silde, Outi Lahtinen and Pilvi Porkola. Translitterated and Published in Dramagora (“Loose Your Control and Take a Trip”, “Trends, Fads, and Camp”): http://www.q-teatteri.fi/baltic_circle/dramagora/
November 23. ”Terrorismin estetiikkaa” (Aesthetics of terrorism.) Tampere Main Library, Philosophy Evening
October 8 “Jääkiekon estetiikkaa.” Jääkiekkoa uusin silmin -seminaari. Tampereen avoin yliopisto.
2006
May 24. ”Kitsch ja camp -näkökulma ARS:iin.” (A kitsch and camp gaze on ARS.)
ARS 2006. Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art Helsinki.
2005
April 20. ”Koons, readymade ja kitsch.” (Koons, readymade, and kitsch.)
Helsinki City Art Museum, Jeff Koons Retrospective.
May. Panel with Johanna Hammarberg & Malla Silde. Baltic Circle Theatre Festival, Helsinki. http://www.q-teatteri.fi/baltic_circle/dramagora/BALTICCIRCLE/alternative.php
2002
May. ”Kansanhuvista taiteeksi – eli miten leikkisistä teoksista tulee vakavaa huvia.”
Pori Art Museum, Play and Control exhibition.
November. ”Aesthetics of Terrorism”. Charlottenburg Art Museum, Copenhagen. Art and Terrorism colloqium. Org. Charlottenburg & NIFCA, coordinator Khaled Ramadan. Panel with Khaled Ramadan, Sarat Maharaj & Anders Michelsen.
2000
”Korkea ja matala”, Lahden muotoiluinstituutti, Katukuva – seminaari sarjakuvan estetiikasta ja kaupunkikulttuurista.