On Friendship and the Political Imaginary course

On Friendship and the Political Imaginary (FKAKPO) is a graduate level free-standing course (15 ECTS) taught online through English (with opportunities for face-to-face meet-ups). No fees are charged for EU and EEA citizens, Swedish residence permit holders and exchange students. 

This distance course introduces key themes and questions in respect of politics, affiliation and friendship with particular reference to contemporary art practices, theories and institutions. The course proposes to explore the figure of “the friend” by also attending to the intersections of contemporary art with philosophy, cultural history, and social and political theory A combined intensive and extensive reading approach introduces key themes and questions on the political imaginary and the different ways in which figures of the friend, the comrade, the enemy and the neighbour are mobilised within the thinking of the political. A key sub-theme for the 2024 iteration is friendship and mortality.

Participants are expected to: actively engage in the online workshops, lectures and seminars; engage in extensive shared reading; and explore the implications of the course themes for their own practice and/or further studies.  The following optional “meet up” IRL sessions are provisionally planned: (i) Gothenburg, Sweden (October 2–4) and (ii) Venice, Italy (November 7–9) during this year’s biennale “Foreigners Everywhere”. For more see the course advance information page.

Guest presenters in previous years include: Kathrin Böhm, Jason E. Bowman, Céline Condorelli, Gary Farrelly, Quinsey Gario, Steven Henry Madoff (co-originator of original course idea) Walter Mignolo, Jota Mombaça,  Jyoti Mistry, Ratna Mufida, Sarah Pierce, Bojana Piškur, Elizabeth A. Povinelli, Helena Reckitt, Grace Samboh, Sibyl A. Schwarzenbach, Shuddha Sengupta, Thiago de Paula Souza, and Claire Tancons. The  guest speakers for 2024 will be announced shortly.

For international PhD students, it is also possible to audit this course as a guest researcher at the academy.

Context
This course is an associated initiative of the Centre for Art and the Political Imaginary (CAPIm). The Centre is committed to interdisciplinary practice and research in the meeting between contemporary art and the future of politics. Based at two institutions of higher education in art: HDK-Valand, University of Gothenburg and Kungl. Konsthögskolan, the Centre’s aim is to facilitate connections between research and education through an engagement with experimental approaches. It is the first Swedish Centre of Excellence in the field of Artistic Research. The Centre is co-chaired by Prof. Mick Wilson and Prof. Natasha Marie Llorens, who together with Prof. Jyoti Mistry and Dr. Axel Andersson form its steering committee.

The course is based on current research and framed as an enquiry-based process, where the key task for course participants is the production of a project proposal relevant to their own practice (e.g., theory, criticism, art making, curatorial work, cultural studies, philosophy or other research across the creative arts and the humanities).

Apply for the course
Application here (for international applicants) and here (for Swedish applicants). Admission to courses is based on a letter of intention (preferably in English) stating why you wish to attend the course, 200 to 350 words in length. (Optional to include CV appendix in addition to 200–350 words.) In evaluating your application, we typically consider: clarity of purpose in attending the course; and capacity to actively contribute to the group dialogue, as evidenced in your letter.

You will require access to reliable internet connection and headphones with mic to participate effectively. The formal presentations can be attended as scheduled, and also accessed via recordings published online afterwards, at whatever time suits your personal timetable needs. However, it is strongly recommended that you attend the discussion sessions “live” online, and guest presentations, as these typically will not be recorded, and offer the best opportunity to interact with the other participants.

Enquiries & online information session
Contact Prof. Mick Wilson mick.wilson [​at​] gu.se

Information session online: Wednesday, April 3, 6–6:30pm (CET)