On Thursday 13 June David Ayers will participate on a round table concerning the state of the contemporary avant-garde. The round table is part of a seminar series organised by the Collège International de Philosophie and is part of the “Fortnight of Philosophy” to mark the 30th anniversary of the CIPh. The round table takes place at the Palais de Tokyo from 19.00-21.00 and is supported by Centre Parisien d’Études Critiques and the Palais de Tokyo.
How can it be explained that, despite the apparently anachronistic character of any notion of the avant-garde, philosophers and critics have become newly interested in the topic? The avant-gardes belong to the past, their historical origins are tied to the period of so-called ‘modernism’ and of the revolutionary movements. Over time the association of the avant-garde with the spirit of revolution and with modernist forms of expression has become fixed. Other terms have been introduced, such as postmodernism and altermodernism. But what about the avant-gardes? Are they stuck in the modernist past? Or have the neo-avant-gardes appropriated and renewed their messages? And what relationship is there now between the theory of the avant-garde and the historical experience of the avant-garde? Is there still an avant-garde? or can one imagine a renewal of art in the spirit of the avant-garde – one which might reflect the spirit of the avant-garde without imitating its methods?