ABOAGORA Pre-symposium V: Turbulent Times

21–23 August 2022

Archipelago Centre Korpoström, Turku archipelago, Finland

The ABOAGORA Pre-symposium invited Doctoral Candidates in the arts, humanities and sciences and MA Arts Students to reflect together on what is in the air in these turbulent times.

The Pre-symposium was structured around talks, walks and workshops addressing winds of change – ecological and societal, material and metaphorical – and their interconnections. Through the prism offered by the Archipelago Sea Biosphere area, a plurality of perspectives and multisensory approaches, the participants discussed a range of questions related to air and the wind, such as: What do the changes in air currents in the present tell us about the past and the future, or about the interdependencies between specific places and planetary circulations? How are the languages and knowledges of all things airy changing together with the winds and weather patterns?

These questions call for a range of practices that study, trace, navigate and imagine where the winds are carryings us. The aim of the Pre-symposium was to follow the winds, in every sense of the term, and let the air be a mediator for discussions across disciplinary boundaries in the sciences and the arts. Air was approached as a dwelling and a medium for interconnections: Breezes and breaths reveal the porosity of borders and challenge distinctions between one and another, inside and outside, here and elsewhere.

The Pre-symposium research retreat was directed by curator and researcher Taru Elfving (CAA Contemporary Art Archipelago) and organised in collaboration with Archipelago Centre Korpoström. The programme included presentations and workshops that offered scientific and artistic insights into the myriad winds blowing across the Archipelago Sea. The participants were also invited to contribute their own questions to the programme.

The Pre-symposium group presented their work in a joint panel session on August 25 at the ABOAGORA: “Wind” Symposium at the Sibelius Museum in Turku.