FESTIVALFILOSOFIA 2012

A key concept of the philosophical tradition and the central question of contemporary experience: it's "things" the theme for 2012 edition of Festivalfilosofia, that takes place in Modena, Carpi and Sassuolo, in 40 different locations of the three cities with conferences, exhibitions, performances, readings, games for children and philosophical dinners. There are nearly 200 events, all free.

Squares, churches and courtyards will host over 50 lectures, with guest speakers, among others, such as Enzo Bianchi, Massimo Cacciari, Roberta de Monticelli, Roberto Esposito, Maurizio Ferraris, Umberto Galimberti, Sergio Givone, Salvatore Natoli, Giovanni Reale, Stefano Rodotà, Salvatore Settis, Emanuele Severino, Carlo Sini and Remo Bodei, Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Festival.

There are also many foreign philosophers, about one fourth of the total: among them the French Bruno Latour, Serge Latouche and Marc Augé, who is part of the Scientific Committee of the Festival, the German Peter Sloterdijk, the Spaniard Francisco Jarauta; the British Richard Sennett and Scott Lash, the American John Searle, the Polish Zygmunt Bauman, for forty years in exile in England, and his compatriot Krzysztof Pomian, exiled in France, Anne Cheng, of Chinese origin and trained in France.

The program of lectures is in the name of philosophical question about things (inciting the wonder that something is there and looking for "what" is it), recognizing that this issue can be seen in the place of theoretical material and some of the most characteristic transformations of the contemporary.

The masters of thought that Festivalfilosofia will bring to the squares and courtyards of the three cities will compete with the public on the various facets of contemporary things, drawing lines that issue, among others, the question of the "thing itself", the status of production and its processes, the implications of consumption, the fetish character assumed by things, and the passions they arouse.

The philosophical program of the festival also offers the "the lesson of the classics" prominent experts will comment on the texts which, in the history of Western thought, have made or carried out conceptual models relevant to the theme of things, from Plato to Aristotle, from Adam Smith to Hegel and Marx, to the twentieth-century elaboration of Husserl, Heidegger, Benjamin and Arendt, plus a comparative off-piste on Confucian thought.

If the lectures are the heart of the event, an extensive program involves creative narratives and performance, music, books, and activities for children and teens.

There will be over 20 exhibitions presented at the festival including a major retrospective devoted to Italian American photographer Edward Weston, a personal Andrea Chiesi, an exhibition of stickers on the "discreet charm of things", one dedicated to the history and the myth of Panini collections. The installation "The gift of the Mass" prepared by the National Institute of Nuclear Physics and "Things # 6" by Masbedo should both be quite interesting.

And, along with lunches and dinners designed by Academician of the Lincei philosophical Tullio Gregory for about sixty restaurants and wine bars in the three cities, on the night of Saturday, September 15 "tiratardi" will be held, with initiatives and openings of galleries and museums until late at night.