Postsecular Reckonings: Spirituality and Religion in Contemporary Art History and Cultural Studies

This international workshop is dedicated to religious reverberations in artistic and cultural practices, especially throughout the Americas, exploring the spiritual residues of our disciplines and methodologies. The workshop opens with the scenic ritual “MOMENTO MOCHE” by Emilio Urbay and Sonja Ortiz, followed by a lecture by Roberto Strongman (Associate Professor, UC Santa Barbara) titled “Postsecular Pilgrimages, Imaginary Sources, Disappointed Returns”.  The presentations on the second day address contemporary social issues, artistic and curatorial practices, and the museum, focusing on a range of Afro-diasporic, Indigenous, and Mestizo religious actors and sites. 

Wednesday, 14 May

Performance with Emilio Urbay and Sonja Ortiz) at Kunstraum

18:30 - 20:00 LIAS-Lecture by Roberto Strongman (UC Santa Barbara)
“Postsecular Pilgrimages, Imaginary Sources, Disappointed Returns” at Hörsaal 5

Thursday, 15 May at Kunstraum

09:30 - 12:00: Liberation and enchantment against injustice and oppression (moderated by Prof. Dr. Susanne Leeb)

Carolina Falcão (Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil): (What) Can Liberation Imagine? Notes on Poverty and Solidarity in Contemporary Brazil

Lior Zisman Zalis ( University of Coimbra): Of “falls” and “tumbles”. Agency, Strength, and Power of the Enchanted ones in the Terecô of Codó 

12:00 - 13:30: Lunch Break

13:30 - 16:00: Dance, dreams, and cosmos in art practices (moderated by Prof. Dr. Maud Meyzaud)

Joëlle Dubé (Dawson College Montréal, Canada): Cosmic Remembrance with Lara Kramer’s Gorgeous Tongue (2024)

Juliana Robles de la Pava (Käte Hamburger Centre for Advanced Study, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin): Dream, Shamanism, and Forms of Earthly Spirituality in Contemporary Amazonian Art

16:00 - 16:30: Coffee Break

16:30 - 19:00: Magicians and spirits in curating and the museum (moderated by Prof. Dr. Vera Simone-Schulz)

Chanon Kenji Praepipatmongkol (McGill University Montréal, Canada): Magicians to Techno-Mystics

Drake A. Konow II (University of Texas at Austin, USA): The Theology of a Fictitious Museum: Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro’s Montando a historia da vida

The workshop is organized in collaboration with the Leuphana Institute for Advanced Studies (LIAS) and the Gender and Diversity Research Network, and in exchange with the Master-seminar “Postsecular critique: The imprints of religion and spirituality on Cultural Studies” by Sebastián Eduardo Dávila. The program was curated and organized by Sebastián Eduardo Dávila. With additional support by Jana Paim Costa, Sophie McCuen-Koytek and Litha Sabelfeld.

If you are not a student from the seminar “Postsecular critique: The imprints of religion and spirituality on Cultural Studies”, please register for the workshop at shk.kunstraum@leuphana.de by 9 May 2025.