From 2013–2022

The Anthropocene at HKW

From 2013–2022

How are responsibility and agency distributed in the Anthropocene? Who exactly is the Anthropos that brought about this new geological epoch? Which epistemological foundations have made it possible to exploit and transform planetary flows of energy and materials?

Human activities have reshaped the Earth system so profoundly that we seem to have entered a new geological age. In the Anthropocene, geological and human history are deeply interwoven, making it difficult to separate the categories of nature and culture.

From 2013–2022, HKW has been investigating how the critical planetary transformations of the Anthropocene can be understood, experienced, and shaped. In a multitude of exhibitions, installations, conferences, workshops, performances, and publications, HKW has explored the cultural, socio-economic, and political implications of the new planetary reality.

New transdisciplinary and collaborative knowledge practices that meet the challenges of the Anthropocene have been tested within the framework of the long-term Anthropocene Curriculum project. The website anthropocene-curriculum.org served as a research platform for the international network.

As the Anthropocene at HKW comes to a close in 2022, the Anthropocene Curriculum will conclude as an archive and enter into a new phase as the Anthropocene Commons – an emergent network of researchers, educators, activists, artists, and scientists dedicated to designing transformative pedagogies for collective action in the context of the planetary emergency.

Below is an overview of related projects and publications.