Nearness

• Inspiring longread on the influence of Covid-19 on education and the arts

The Covid-19 crisis teaches us how priceless human nearness is. Art and education can’t do without it either. Like works of art, people lose their aura when kept at digital arm’s length. Art is lifeless when it can’t resonate with bodies. In Nearness, Marlies De Munck and Pascal Gielen diagnose a new reality. Only culture marks the difference between surviving and living.

Marlies De Munck is philosopher of culture. She teaches at the Philosophy department of the Antwerp University and at the KASK & Conservatory in Ghent. As a member of the Culture Commons Quest Office (CCQO) of the Antwerp Research Institute of the Arts (ARIA) she conducts research into the health of culture.

Pascal Gielen is sociologist of culture. He is based at the Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts (ARIA) of Antwerp University. There he leads the research group Culture Commons Quest Office (CCQO).