Invitation to Parcours "Workshop of the Arts and Sciences"

On September 27, 2025, the Kunststiftung NRW, with the Center for Life Ethics at the University of Bonn and the Stiftung Insel Hombroich, is hosting a presentation of the fellowship program “Workshop of Arts and Sciences”. Designed as an interdisciplinary dialogue between art and science in North Rhine-Westphalia, eight fellows from different fields of the arts and sciences are working together.

For a period of one year, they examine the topic of ecological, individual, and social “tipping points” in a curated and moderated setting. The resulting artistic works, discourse sketches, and reflections will be on display all day at the Raketenstation Hombroich.

The fellows in the pilot phase include three Senior Research Associates from the Center for Life Ethics: Peter Bröckerhoff, M. A., (Research Focus: Technologization) questions the boundary between the human and the non-human in his reading circle “Multispecies Communities” and invites all interested parties to listen and join in the discussion.

Dr. Jan Mehlich (Research Focus: Ecologization) presents strategies for talking about global warming on a series of screens: complex theory meets TED rhetoric, sober news meets evocative art. In the audio walk by Dr. Sebastian Müller (Research Focus: Economization), the crossroads becomes the point of divergence for opposing economic and ecological strategies: How do different narratives of sustainability shape political decisions?

Prof. Dr. Christiane Woopen, founding director of the Center for Life Ethics: “What does it mean when an order irrevocably collapses? Exploring this question in the interplay between the arts and sciences promises inspiring encounters and dialogues on a pressing issue of our time.”

The opening ceremony will feature speeches by Roland Nachtigäller (Managing Director of the Insel Hombroich Foundation), Ina Brandes MdL (Minister of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia, Member of the State Assembly), Prof. Dr. Dr. Thomas Sternberg (President of the Kunststiftung NRW), Prof. Dr. Christiane Woopen (Founding Director of the Center for Life Ethics at the University of Bonn), and Florian Malzacher (Artistic Director of the Fellowship Program). The parcours is open to all interested parties and accessible free of charge.

The fellows in the pilot phase are: Peter Bröckerhoff, Corç George Demir, Tuğba Durukan, Enis Maci, Jan Mehlich, Sebastian Müller, Phillip Schulze, and Noemi Weber. 
The artistic director of the program is Florian Malzacher .

Another public event is planned for November at PACT Zollverein in Essen.

Event date: September 27, 2025
Venue: Raketenstation Hombroich, 41472 Neuss, Germany
Opening hours: The parcours is open from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on the day of the event.
Admission is free.