Welcoming words
Professor Yrjö Sepänmaa, Conference Chair

Welcome to the Valamo Monastery
Archimandrite Sergei, Head of the Valamo monastery

Aesthetic Responses to the Sky and Space
Professor Emeritus R.W. Hepburn, Philosophy, University of Edinburgh (died on Dec. 23rd, 2008); his Address to the Conference will be read by Dr. Emily Brady, University of Edinburgh, Scotland

Under the North Star. On the astral mythology of the Northern sky
Professor Emeritus Juha Pentikäinen, Comparative Religion, University of Helsinki

Mythopoetics of the Skyscape
Professor and researcher Kaia Lehari, the Estonian Academy of Arts, University of Tallinn
 

Valamo DVD-presentation (non-stop, 12 minutes) in the Cultural Centre

Osmo Pekonen: Taivaallisen poron tarina
Pauliina Kainulainen: Taivas, tähdet ja paikan teologia
Christine Farina: Quantum Myth: The Gloaming as an Aesthetic, Spiritual and Physical Manifestation of the Metaphysical Mysteries
Leonard Daniel: Vortices in Virtual Space: Poetry and Painting in Descartes’ Cosmological Fable, The World

II Session Group (Chairman Outi Lehtipuro, Lay Academy, classroom 103)

Aysegul Sentug (his presentation will be read): The Aesthetics of the Sublime: Exploration of the Sublime in Celestial Experience
Laura Jetsu: Onko tuonpuoleinen taivas? Karjalaisten käsityksiä tuonpuoleisesta
Seppo Knuuttila – Senni Timonen: Havainnonmukainen ja myyttinen taivas
 

Celestial Aesthetics: Over our Heads and/or in our Heads?
Distinguished University Professor Holmes Rolston, III, Department of
Philosophy, Colorado State University, USA

Miroslaw Klivar (paper will be read): Exoaesthetics: natural Beauty in the Cosmos
Carl Gustav Källman: Is the Universe Made for Admirers?
Zbigniew Oksiuta (Video presentation): The Sky Reflects in Water
Markus Hotakainen: Kauneus on katsojan kaukoputkessa

II Session Group (Chairman Pauliina Kainulainen, Lay Academy, room 103)

Jonathan Maskit: Industrialism, Science and the Transformation of the Heavens
Osmo Kontturi: Maailmankaikkeus – maapallo – ihminen: dimensioita ja dilemmoja / Universe – Globe – Man: Dimensions and Dilemmas
Tiina Prittinen: Ilmakehän kasvihuonekaasujen ja keinotekoisten radionuklidien esteettinen kokeminen
Sulo Strömberg: Kiveen hakattu tähtitaivas

Starlit walks on the frozen Lake Juojärvi
Guides: Tapio Markkanen and Veli-Pekka Hentunen

Please take along clothing appropriate for outdoor exercise, rubber boots (there is water on the ice) and a flashlight.The trip is subject to the weather

Saturday 28 March 2009

A walk in heavenly cities. On the visuality of spiritual and scientific
dreams.
Jyrki Siukonen, artist, teacher, Finnish Academy of Fine Arts

The Aesthetics of Emptiness: Sky Art
Professor Yuriko Saito, Division of Liberal Arts, Rhode Island School of Design, USA

Celestial Aesthetics: The Sky in the Garden, with Special Attention to Japanese Moon-Viewing
Mara Miller, consultant, philosophy, Japanese art, gender issues, the environment, USA

2pm

3.30pm

I Session Group (Chairman Asko Mäkelä, Cultural Centre)

Rudi van Etteger: The Dutch landscapae is built on the abundant sky
Hanna Johansson: Rain as the Object and the Producer of Representation
Helena Sederholm – Markus Hotakainen: Taiteen tähtitaivaat
Päivi Inkeri Setälä: Uudet taivaat – amatöörivalokuvaajat taivaantekijöinä ja lasten monokromaattiset taivaskuvat

II Session Group (Chairman Laura Jetsu, Lay Academy, classroom 103)

Raili Elovaara: Taivas ja avaruus sanataiteessa: väline vai uskonkappale?
Clarice Allgood: Negative Space: Reframing Personal Space as a Perceptual Commons
Liina Unt: Sky – Remarks on the Impossible Stage Space
Johanna Hällsten: Sonic Movements: Foghorns, Sirens and Intervals

Closing Session (Chairman Yrjö Sepanmaa)

Celestial Ecology
Professor Emeritus Arnold Berleant, University of Long Island, USA

Coffee, Restaurant Trapesa

On the final day of the conference, guests can participate in an evening field trip to Taurus Hill Observatory located near the City of Varkaus, in the Kilpimäki Village of Kangaslampi. You will be guided by members of Kassiopeia, the local astronomical association. There is a lean-to in the Observatory grounds where you can warm up, enjoy open-hearth pot coffee and grill sausages while waiting for your turn. The Observatory can take about 15 people at a time. Due to transportation arrangements, you should sign up for the trip by 3pm on Friday, 27 March. The Observatory entrance fee and coffee/sausages are free for you. The trip is subject to the weather and the number of participants. Please wear warm outdoor clothing.

Exhibitions (Open 12am - 5pm)

Icons from the Soviet Union
This exhibition presents selected items from the collection of over three hundred icons, mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries, donated to the Valamo Foundation by Katri and Harri Willamo (Cultural Centre).

Fantasies and Space Thoughts on Enamel
Space-themed artwork by metal artist Raimo Nousiainen (Lay Academy, Classroom 104)