Metropolitan Nature. A Conversation with Emanuele Coccia

Known for his interdisciplinary approach, philosopher and author Emanuele Coccia (1976, Italy) explores the relationships between humans, nature, and the cosmos, often challenging traditional distinctions between living and non-living entities. His writing, deeply influenced by fields like biology and anthropology, engages with themes of life, plants, and the environment, emphasizing a vision of existence where all forms of life are interconnected. 

His philosophical practice is marked by a poetic, accessible style that resonates with both academic and broader audiences. His work has been featured in major academic and cultural discussions, making him a key voice in contemporary philosophy and ecological thought. His  books include The Life of Plants: The Metaphysics of Mixture (2016), Metamorphoses (2020) and Philosophy and the Home: Domestic Space and Happiness (2022). 

Established in 2023, The Mondrian Initiative annually awards The Mondrian Prize to an internationally recognized professional in the art world. The prize includes an invitation to bring fellow researchers to the colony and a residency in Piet Mondrian’s renovated studio at the Dooyewaard Foundation’s artist colony in Blaricum/Laren.  

About the speakers  

Emanuele Coccia is an Italian philosopher who lives in Paris, where he is associate Professor at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS). He was Assistant Professor at the University of Freiburg from 2008-2011 and was a visiting professor at the universities of Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Düsseldorf, Columbia and Harvard. After earning his doctorate in medieval philosophy and philology at the University of Florence, Emanuele received post-doctoral grants at the Max Planck Institut in Frankfurt am Main, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona.   

Francesco Carrasso is a landscape architect and visual artist exploring the relationship between natural and urban landscapes. Influenced by his roots in graffiti and a childhood in the Italian countryside, he designs spaces where nature plays a central role in human life. His project “MAMT” merges letters and figurative elements to capture the complexities of modern life, while his vibrant, intuitive paintings reflect everyday narratives and a deep connection to the natural world. 

Lisa Doeland is a philosopher. She lectures at both Radboud University and the University of Amsterdam in ethics and in contemporary issues, such as ecology, green ideology, the Anthropocene and the Apocalypse. In her PhD research she explores the myriad ways in which we are haunted by these things we (call) waste. Drawing on the work of philosopher Jacques Derrida and psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan she traces the “spectre of waste” and sketches a hauntology of waste, that forces us to rethink being (ontology) – to be is to haunt and be haunted – and allows us to critically reflects on (eco)modern myths and fantasies, such as recycling without remainders within a circular economy. She is the author of Onszelf voorbij. Kijken naar wat we liever niet zien (2018) and Apocalypsofie. Over recycling, groene groei en andere gevaarlijke fantasieën (2023).

Colin Sterling (moderator) is Assistant Professor / Senior Lecturer in Heritage, Museums and the Environment at the University of Amsterdam, where he teaches across heritage and memory, museum studies and artistic research. Colin’s research critically examines heritage and museums through the lens of art and ecology. He is the author of Heritage, Photography, and the Affective Past (Routledge, 2020) and co-editor of Deterritorializing the Future: Heritage in, of and after the Anthropocene (Open Humanities Press, 2020). He is co-editor of the journal Museums & Social Issues.