28 August 2017

How to Deal with Complexity
Academy Dialogue with Hazel Rosenstrauch and Jeanine Meerapfel

Monday, 4 September, 8 pm
Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz 4, 10117 Berlin
>> Press tickets: presse@adk.de, Tel. +49 (0)30 20057-1514

Our society’s complex relationships and interconnections are difficult to understand. And their sheer variety and contradictions cannot be reduced without leaving traces behind. Politics and the media – but also each of us as individuals – are inclined to simplify things in a world that seems to lack transparency. But how can we get our bearings without relying on over-simplifications? What criteria do we choose? How do we resist populism, which is potentially created through a reduction of complexity? And what role is played by the apparent increase in fake news? Jeanine Meerapfel, Akademie president and filmmaker, has invited the author Hazel Rosenstrauch to an Academy Dialogue on the subject of complexity. The two women have known each other since the 1980s. On 4 September they will talk about their experiences, as well as about doubts and possibilities.

Hazel Rosenstrauch has done research and taught at various universities. She was editor of Gegenworte – Hefte für den Disput über Wissen, and works as a journalist, editor and author. Her publications on historical and current themes include the early Romantics, Jews, executioners, women, vanity, and most recently Congress mit Damen, a book about the Congress of Vienna. A newer edition of Wahlverwandt und ebenbürtig. Caroline und Wilhelm von Humboldt will be reprinted this autumn. Among other prizes, Rosenstrauch has been awarded the Österreichischer Staatspreis für Kulturpublizistik in 2012 and the Theodor Kramer-Preis in 2015.

The Academy Dialogues delve into the personal, but are nevertheless public discussions. In a focused atmosphere, Jeanine Meerapfel enters into exchanges with renowned personalities from the fields of art, science, politics, and also cultural politics. The audience is invited to participate at the end of each discussion. Previous guests in this series were Wolfgang Benz, Monika Grütters and Stefan Kraus. In an upcoming event on 17 October, the president of the Akademie will discuss Berlin and its cultural buildings with Klaus Lederer, the senator for Culture and Europe, and Wilfried Wang, architect and deputy director of the Architecture Section at the Akademie der Künste.

Hazel Rosenstrauch’s written commentary on the subject of complexity can be read under the title “Qualifiziert Chaotisch Denken” (in German): https://m-i-ma.de/2017/08/09/qualifiziert-chaotisch-denken-hazel-rosenstrauch/ 


Event Information

Academy Dialogue: How to Deal with Complexity
Hazel Rosenstrauch in Discussion with Jeanine Meerapfel
Monday, 4 September 2017, begins at 8 pm
Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz 4, 10117 Berlin
In German
Admission € 6/4
Ticket reservations: +49 (0)30 200 57-1000 or ticket@adk.de
Ticket purchases from the web shop: www.adk.de/tickets 

The bar in the clubroom is open before and after the event.