inherit's Lecture Series - Summer Semester 2026, Kristopher Kersey

Kristopher Kersey
Art as Metabolism: Fragmentation, Decay, and Assemblage in the Arts of Japan

The lecture series brings together thirteen fellows from the Centre for Advanced Study inherit. heritage in transformation at Humboldt-Universität, whose research spans disciplines to explore what it means to inherit. From colonial legacies and ancestral remains to genetic memory, religious ritual, and postcolonial art, the lectures probe how inheritance shapes belonging, identity, and knowledge itself. Through these diverse projects, the lecture series asks what can be passed on and how, and in what ways does inheritance invite us to rethink the ethics and possibilities of living with the past in the present. The contributors to the lecture series include artists of various media as well as researchers from a wide range of humanities and social sciences, such as anthropology, art history, history, literature, philosophy, political science and sociology.

The lecture series introduces exciting trans- and multi-disciplinary humanities approaches with a particular focus on the following three strands of ongoing transformation: decentring the west (Europe/Global North); decentring the human; and transforming value. These three strands structure the research programme of inherit. heritage in transformation.

The lecture series will also be streamed on Zoom.

This lecture series is organized and coordinated by Habiba Insaf.

Lecture Hall 3075, Main Building, HU Berlin, Unter den Linden 6
Chair: Eva Ehninger