When does a life end?
When does it begin?
And who decides?

Charismatic counselling: Barbara Bilabel

The boundaries between life and death have become permeable. Modern biotechnologies intervene in natural processes at the beginning and the end of life, altering perceptions of what constitutes human existence. The congress presents research, images and speculations from the anthropological twilight zones between life and death. The ramifications of rapidly advancing technology and cultural forms of reflection on the undead will be discussed together, motivated by the wish to stimulate new ways of thinking and forge new cultural techniques. To achieve this we have to engage with various forms of knowledge: reproductive medicine, synthetic biology, enhancement technologies, transplantation medicine, theories of trans- and post-humanism, medical ethics, philosophy, law, literature, ethnology and the drastic images produced in pop culture. Astonishment, insight, shock, empathy: in the tradition of the popularisation of science from the century this congress will present a heterogeneous mise-en-scène of the undead’s figures of knowledge and strategies for action.

A three-day show room and working space with lectures, presentations and dialogues for theory and practice. It opened on International Nurses Day (12 May). The congress took place daily from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., followed by a late-night film programme.

Photo: Fred Dott

Photo: Aya Ben Ron