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News Sustainability Research Blue Animal Aesthetics Conference

Photo: Arman Depperschmidt

The international conference 'Blue Animal Aesthetics' took place from 22 to 24 October 2025 at Nuremberg University of Music. It was organised by Prof. Dr. Martin Ullrich (NUM), Prof. Dr. Jessica Ullrich (Münster Academy of Art) and Tabea Weber (Bielefeld University).

Contributions from various disciplines, including music, art, literature, biology, philosophy and education, explored aesthetic, ecological and ethical perspectives on life in and around water. Topics such as underwater painting, inland waters, mermaids, axolotls, whale songs and creative octopuses demonstrated impressively how art, science and nature are closely interwoven.

Special impressions were left by the oil painting 'Sinking I' by Hartmut Kiewert and the live performance 'Keening – Song of the Stranding' by Alex South, in which clarinet and pilot whale songs merged.

Many thanks to all the speakers and participants for the inspiring interdisciplinary, interspecies and international exchange.