[spectre] INVITATION: McLuhan Centennial Weekend - Berlin May 27 - 29, 2011

[stephen kovats]

Dear Spectrites, 

it's my pleasure, on behalf of our McLuhan centennial and transmediale teams to invite and welcome you to:

RE-TOUCHING McLUHAN – THE MEDIUM IS THE MASSAGE 
Marshall McLuhan Centennial Weekend, Berlin

Conference |  Screening  |  Exhibition  |  Performance

Friday May 27 – Sunday May 29, 2011
Embassy of Canada / Marshall McLuhan Salon
http://mcluhan2011.eu/berlin

transmediale, Berlin's festival for art and digital culture in collaboration with the Embassy of Canada and Marshall McLuhan Salon invite you to a key event celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of famed Canadian media philosopher Herbert Marshall McLuhan. Having coined expressions such as the 'global village' and 'the medium is the message' in the early days of TV and electronic culture, the Re-Touching McLuhan events explore the many interpretations of McLuhan's play on language and media that shape today's networked society.

The international conference Re-Touching McLuhan: The Medium is the Massage chaired by Dieter Daniels and moderated by Christopher Salter, sees leading international media and digital culture researchers Richard Cavell, Dieter Daniels, Martina Leeker, Claus Pias, Katja Kwastek, Liz Kotz, Janine Marchessault, Graham Larkin and Lorenz Engell explore McLuhan’s unique take on tactile and multi-sensory media expressed by the media philosopher's unintentionally published blurring of the words 'message' and 'massage'.

Former Director of the University of Toronto's 'McLuhan Programme for Culture and Technology' Derrick de Kerckhove joins Berlin-based McLuhan scholar Steffi Winkler in elaborating on rare broadcast material from the Marshall McLuhan Salon's unique archives in the first session of the McLuminations screening and discussion series, produced by UdK Berlin Institute for Time-Based Media resident Baruch Gottlieb.

With a keynote introduction to McLuhan's 'massaging of the aural senses' by U.B.C. Prof. Richard Cavell the opening of the Centennial Weekend will feature the worldwide (re-)launch of McLuhan's 1968 audio art classic The Medium is the Massage, digitally remastered for the first time, produced and presented by hip-hop musician and conceptual artist Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky.

The Centennial Weekend will also feature the European première of Through the Vanishing Point, a major new multi-media installation by leading Canadian digital artists David Rokeby and Lewis Kaye, as well as Play_McLuhan, an exhibition by media art students from the Hochschule Darmstadt under the direction of Sabine Breitsameter will be presented.


Programme Highlights

Friday May 27, 18.00
Re-Touching McLuhan Centennial Weekend 
Opening and Reception featuring Richard Cavell and Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky

Saturday May 28, 10.00 – 18.00
Re-Touching McLuhan: The Medium is the Massage 
Conference chaired by Dieter Daniels

Sunday May 29, 14.30
McLuminations #1 
Screening & Discussion featuring Derrick de Kerckhove and Steffi Winkler

Sunday May 29, 17.00
Through The Vanishing Point 
Installation by David Rokeby and Lewis Kaye - Vernissage

Full event schedule: http://mcluhan2011.eu/schedule


Special Pre-Events 
 
Friday, May 27, 12.00 – 17.00
Global Village: Calamity or Chance? 
2nd German-Canadian Professionals Conference
www.gcp-conference.de/2011
 
Friday, May 27th, 17.00 
PLAY_McLUHAN 
Exhibition presentation by Sabine Breitsameter and students of the Hochschule Darmstadt

Location: 
Embassy of Canada / Marshall McLuhan Salon
Leipziger Platz 17
10117 Berlin
U-Bahn and S-Bahn Potsdamer Platz

All events are free and open to the public but spaces are limited so please <RSVP at rsvp at mcluhan2011.eu>  and arrive early to ensure enough time for embassy security! 

If you're not in Berlin May 27 - 29 you can join us online at http://mcluhan2011.eu/berlin. All RE-TOUCHING McLUHAN conference presentations will be streamed and live moderated by Lalitha Rajan on IRC.freenode.net on the #mcluhan2011eu channel (You can use your external client, or use http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=mcluhan2011eu&uio=d4) 
If you'd like more info on the streaming programme please contact Lalitha at <lr at mcluhan2011.eu>

For more information on the programme, or coming to the event visit <http://mcluhan2011.eu/berlin< 
or contact Michelle O'Brien at <mo at mcluhan2011.eu>
tweet @mcluhan2011eu

**McLUHAN IN EUROPE 2011**
The RE-TOUCHING McLUHAN Berlin Centennial Weekend is a project of the McLuhan in Europe 2011 network, initiated and directed by Stephen Kovats in collaboration with Michelle Kasprzak, celebrating the centenary of visionary Canadian media philosopher Herbert Marshall McLuhan, and his impact on European art and media culture.
http://mcluhan2011.eu

Other McLuhan in Europe 2011 events coming up soon include:

McLuhan’s Global Village Today: Transatlantic Perspectives on Medium and Message
May 12-14, Centre for Canadian Studies, Marburg
http://www.uni-marburg.de/mzks/aktuelles/index_html

Transgressing the Senses. Culture, Technology and TechnoMind
May 20 – 21, Academy of Fine Arts, Katowice, Poland
http://www.cybergarden.eu

McLuhan Galaxy Conference
Universitat Pompeu Fabra and the IN3 – Internet Interdisciplinary Institute, Barcelona, Spain
May 23 – 25
http://mcluhangalaxy.net

See also Darren Wershler's 'McLuhan in Europe 2011' intro:
http://www.vimeo.com/14196118


**apologies if you've already received this info via other channels**


greetings and looking forward to seeing you in Berlin!

Stephen Kovats


Initiator / Director
McLuhan in Europe 2011 Network
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RE-TOUCHING McLUHAN
http://mcluhan2011.eu/berlin
#mcluhan2011eu
Berlin Centennial Weekend | 27 - 29 May 2011
Marshall McLuhan Salon | Embassy of Canada

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kovats at mcluhan2011.eu
http://mcluhan2011.eu
twitter.com/mcluhan2011eu
facebook.com/mcluhan2011eu
http://www.transmediale.de/Beyond/mcluhan-2011
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