TEA Symposium 2026
Technological and Ecological Atmospheres

Technological and Ecological Atmospheres (TEA) is a joint symposium organized by KOIAS (Kobe Institute for Atmospheric Studies) and the Feral Ecologies Lab. Bringing together scholars, artists, and practitioners, the symposium explores atmospheres as a philosophical and relational concept: the mutable spaces between beings, machines, and worlds.

As planetary ecologies shift under the weight of climate breakdown and technological acceleration, TEA asks how our atmospheres—ecological, digital, affective, and spiritual—shape experience, relation, and thought. The symposium seeks to create a space for collective reflection and experimentation, where philosophy, ecology, and technology meet through the shared medium of atmosphere—fostering new ways of thinking, sensing, and breathing together across disciplines, cultures, and media.

Dates: 18–19 April 2026
Venue: Kobe Institute for Atmospheric Studies (KOIAS), Kobe University, Japan
Format: Hybrid (on-site and online participation)

KOIAS – Kobe Institute for Atmospheric Studies Feral Ecologies Lab

Suggested Themes

  • Atmospheric Entanglements: from carbon to computation
  • Technological Weathering: how machines alter moods of the planet
  • Feral Intelligences: AI, fungi, winds, and co-created sensemaking
  • Hospicing Measurability: beyond paradigms of control
  • Meta-Relational Methodologies: sensing, tending, composting
  • Atmospheric Ethics: breath, boundary, and the politics of shared air
  • Cross-Cultural Currents: East Asian & Western notions of atmosphere
  • Aesthetic Atmospheres: art, sound, performance, attunement
  • Breath and Ki: air, energy, and life across traditions
  • Atmospheric Practices: embodied research as atmospheric thinking

Submissions may include papers (10 min) or alternative formats up to 1 hour (performances, workshops, installations, sound pieces, field notes, poetic interventions, etc.). Please specify the estimated presentation length in your proposal.

Confirmed (virtual) Keynote Speakers

  • Michael Marder: “Breathing and Time”
  • Nora Bateson: (title to be announced)

Call for Papers

Call for Papers – TEA Symposium 2026