/ HAS MAGAZINE
05
Spaces and places
two dimensions of Being
July 2022

EDITORIAL  by Zoltán Somhegyi and the HAS team We live in “spaces”. Many of them, we call “places”. We note that although the two terms are intimately connected, they are not exactly synonymous, and despite similarities, they do not overlap, neither in everyday speech nor in academic discourse. There are, of course,many ways of differentiating […]

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EDITORIAL  by Zoltán Somhegyi and the HAS team We live in “spaces”. Many of them, we call “places”. We note that although the two terms are intimately connected, they are not exactly synonymous, and despite similarities, they do not overlap, neither in everyday speech nor in academic discourse. There are, of course,many ways of differentiating between the two. Interesting definitions are quoted throughout the contributions of the present issue of HAS Magazine, while others were developed by the participating authors. Nevertheless, what is striking is that “space” seems to be used as a neutral and descriptive term, while “place” is a space to which certain qualities and properties are attributed. This further results in a prevailing tendency to find or establish some sort of association or attachment to a place, describable as mental projection of this space. Spaces and places, therefore, do not only provide physical frameworks for our existence, but they also influence and even determine our identities and activities. The nature of spaces and places affects our emotions, as we tend to be aware of and affected by our surroundings, and we go to great lengths to take care of our spaces. This of course, to various degrees and in a variety of forms: we might choose to cultivate an internal/personal space, or to safeguard the future of our planet on a more global level, encouraged by an approach to the notions of spaces and places as areas affected by environmental changes and climate catastrophes. Through the humanities one can witness that the arts carry the symbols and cultural references necessary to bridge between all the different understandings and definitions of both terms. They provide the keys to travel in between them and therefore the possibility to analyse, observe and reflect critically upon established notions of spaces and places. The use of the multiple tools provided by the humanities and arts widen our understanding of them and represent a form of resistance against single-mindedness. They provide the liberty to expand our spaces and appreciate a variety of places. For the fifth issue of HAS Magazine we received a record number of submissions. It was not an easy task to choose from a large pool of theoretical, practice-lead and artistic contributions. As the final selection shows, we aimed at investigating the leading theme from various angles and fields, with texts, art projects, case studies and other analyses surveying the theme from the perspective of different parts of the world. In particular, we sought fascinating projects that help the reader immerse themselves in a thought-provoking series of questions regarding the duality of spaces and places. This aforementioned record number of submissions has also proven to us that HAS Magazine is not simply growing in readership and popularity, but that it has also become more widely acknowledged as a medium for discussion and dialogue among practitioners of different disciplines. We are grateful for this growing trust and do our best in promoting and continuing the discussion seriously. We have always put and will continue to put strong emphasis on the transdisciplinary nature of this discussion. We want to keep the dialogue open. We strongly believe that not only do we learn from each other, but that the more we know and learn from others the more our own field of work, research and everyday activity will be enriched. I hope that you will appreciate the selection made for this fifth issue of HAS Magazine and that the various views presented by the contributions will provoke new ideas and bring you to further interpretations of the intricate relationship between spaces and places as fundamental parts of all identities. Art historian with a PhD in aesthetics and a habilitation (venia legendi) in philosophy, Zoltán Somhegyi is Editor-in-Chief of HAS Magazine and Associate Professor of art history at the Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary
Summary
Editorial team

DIRECTOR Luiz Oosterbeek (CIPSH)
DIRECTOR Margalit Berriet (Mémoire de l’Avenir)
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Zoltán Somhegyi
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Ashley Molco Castello
GENERAL COORDINATOR Helena Schümmer
UNESCO-MOST COORDINATOR Camille Guinet
ENGLISH EDITOR Dan Meinwald
FRENCH EDITOR  Charlotte Colmant
FRENCH AND ENGLISH TRANSLATION Baptiste Rinner, Corina Plopu, Christopher Alexander Kostritsky, Helena Schümmer
ADMINISTRATION AND PRODUCTION Victor Gresard
DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT Active Creative Design
WEBMASTER Labib Abderemane
GRAPHIC DESIGN Costanza Matteucci & Élodie Vichos
OPERATIONS Mémoire de l’Avenir

 

Advisory Panel

Aurélien Barrau Astrophysician, Professor at the University of Grenoble-Alpes and filmmaker
Madeline Caviness Professor in Art History at Tufts University, member of CIPSH
Marc William Debono Neuroscientistpoet and essayist, Heading the Arts and Science Center at CC91
Divya Dwivedi Philosopher and writer, Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
Wang Gungwu Historian, Professor Emeritus at the Australian National University and Professor at the National University of Singapore
Étienne Klein Physicist, Philosopher of Science and Director of Research at CEA ( Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives)
Nuno Guimaraes da Costa Professor Business Ethics and Sustainability ICN Business School
Hsiung Ping-chen Secretary-General of the International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences ( CIPSH) –  and CIPSH Chair in “New Humanities”, University of California, Irvine
Alain Husson-Dumoutier UNESCO artist for peace, painter, sculptor and writer
Charles-Etienne Lagasse President of the Jacques Georgin Study Centre
Tanella Boni Writer, poet, critic and philosophy professor, University Félix-Houphouët-Boigny, Ivory Coast
Liu Mengxi Founding chief editor of the magazines Chinese Culture and World Sinology, director of the Institute of Chinese Culture
Liu Thai Ker Architect and urbanist, President of the Centre for Liveable Cities
Steven Hartman Executive director of BRIDGES Sustainability Science Coalition
Benno Werlen UNESCO Chair on Global Understadnding for Sustainability, President of the JENA Declaration
Maryam Rashidi PhD scholar, Interdisciplinary & Cross-cultural Studies (ANU, Australia) and Independent researcher (France)
Patrick Degeorges Philosopher, specialist in the sciences and politics of sustainability
Harold Sjursen, Professor of Philosophy and Global Ethics, New York University
Lucilla Spini Doctor in Biological Anthropology, University of Florence
Suvra Chakraborty Entrepreneur, music patron and UN consultant

 

HAS Magazine is created upon an original proposition of Prof. Xiang Xiong Lin, President and founder of the GCACS, conceived and developed by Mémoire de l’Avenir, UNESCO-Most and CIPSH within the Humanities Arts and Society Project.

War begins in the minds of men. The only way to prevent war from happening is through humanity, culture, and the arts. Only by penetrating the hearts and thoughts of people, individually and collectively, can we enable culture to suppress and overcome humanity’s wild and barbarous instincts, and purify its avaricious and power-hungry desires and ambitions.

The digital publication Humanity, Arts & Society is an ambitious artistic and scientific biannual journal, sponsored by four intergovernmental, non-profit cultural organizations. The shared mission and vision that has brought these four organizations together is based upon the goal of serving people and society, promoting culture, the artistic spirit, and human thought with the aim of building a universal global village of trust and harmony.

Professor Lin Xiang Xiong

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