22–24 October 2025

Nuremberg University of Music, Karl-Grillenberger-Str. 3a, 90402 Nuernberg, Germany

Organized by:

Prof. Dr. Martin Ullrich (Nuremberg University of Music),

Prof. Dr. Jessica Ullrich (Münster Academy of Art),

Tabea Weber (Bielefeld University)

In a time of ecological disruption, multispecies entanglements, and increasing sensitivity to planetary interdependencies, this conference invites explorations at the intersection of Blue Humanities, Human-Animal Studies, and artistic-aesthetic practices. Under the title “Blue Animal Aesthetics”, we aim to create a space for thinking with and through water, nonhuman animals, and art.

The conference seeks interdisciplinary contributions that engage with oceanic and aquatic worlds, the politics, ethics and aesthetics of nonhuman animals, and the role of art, music, literature, and performance in navigating fluid ecologies and relational thinking in the Chthulucene.

Topics:

• Marine animals in art, music, literature, and theory
• Posthuman and more-than-human perspectives on the Blue Humanities
• Ecocritical approaches to maritime space
• Aquatic animals in artistic practices
• Colonial, Indigenous, and decolonial perspectives on oceans and nonhuman animals
• Intersections of climate, art, and animal ethics in regard to waterspheres
• Water as an epistemological and aesthetic medium for nonhuman animals
• The aesthetics of marine archives and Blue Extinction

Conference languages: German and English

There will be contributions that cross disciplinary boundaries and open new conceptual and experiential spaces between water, more-than-human life, and aesthetics.

The program will soon follow here.

Participation is only possible after registration and payment of the participation fee of €30.00. Please find the link to register here:

https://nx10429.your-storageshare.de/apps/forms/embed/LQ77zfYgwoTaWYFrJMt5JSDt

The participation fee can be paid using the QR code at the bottom of this page. Kindly note that the participation fee is not refundable in case of non-attendance. If the transfer is made by other means, please always state the booking reference (mandatory): 5302.2700.9401

Any questions or comments can be addressed to:

martin.ullrich(at)hfm-nuernberg.de

ullrichj(at)kunstakademie-muenster.de

tabea_sabrina.weber(at)uni-bielefeld.de

The founding symposium “Why More-Than-Human Musicking Now?” for the Study Group “Multispecies Sound and Movement Studies” in the international ethnomusicological society ICTMD (International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance) took place at the HfM Nuremberg at the end of October 2024.

This was followed by the German National Committee of the ICTMD with its general assembly and a symposium entitled ‘Of Singing Birds, Trumpeting Elephants and Breathing Forests: Multispecies and Interdisciplinary Research Approaches and Musical Practice in Ethnomusicology and Free Reports’. The Nuremberg University of Music has become an institutional member of the ICTMD, strengthening its musicological profile in the field of ethnomusicology.

Please find the program of both symposia here.

Scholars and artists from diverse disciplines came together to (re)consider our understanding of music and sound in a multi-species context. From indigenous communities to urban settings, from natural habitats to digital realms, the ways in which humans engage with other species through music and sound were highlighted in numerous contributions.

This opened up a promising field of research that will be explored in greater depth in the future study group. Due to the completely hybrid realisation it was possible to establish contacts on site as well as to integrate international participants from all continents.

Artistic highlights included a film screening Beyond Tradition: Power of Nature's Voices (2023) with a discussion with director Lea Hagmann, an online lecture performance with David Rothenberg (Tibutibuvihihehehiu: Live with the Blyth's Reed Warbler), a live performance by Christian Ferlaino's All'Erva Radicchia: Goat bells from landscape to performance with conference participants and a closing concert by HfM students.

Conference Management Founding Symposium

Dr Lisa Herrmann-Fertig (Nuremberg University of Music, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg)

Dr Susanne Heiter (Nuremberg University of Music)

Dr Robert O. Beahrs (Center for Advanced Studies in Music / MIAM, Istanbul Technical University)

Mitra Jahandideh (ANU School of Music, Australian National University)

Conference Management Annual Meeting of the National Committee for Germany within ICTMD

Dr Lisa Herrmann-Fertig (Nuremberg University of Music, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg)

Dr Susanne Heiter (Nuremberg University of Music)

Dr Dorit Klebe (Chair of the ICTMD National Committee for Germany)