The beautiful soul

With Mette Hjort, Doreet LeVitte Harten, and Christina von Braun (Professor at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, author and filmmaker)

Moderation: Thomas Macho, Professor of Art History, Humboldt University, Berlin, research areas include victim theories

"What is the relationship between inner beauty and virtue? Are virtuous acts outward signs of a beautiful soul and are they seen as a form of beauty? Does the presence of someone who embodies beauty in and through virtue elicit in others love and a desire to be this way too? Or is the opposite true? - Does such a person provoke hostility, envy and a collectively impelled search for a scapegoat that turns fellow human beings into sacrificial animals? These questions and possible answers to them are the focus of ethically provocative and aesthetically innovative films and the basis of discussions: Center Stage, Andre Rublev, Dogville, Samaria and The Baby of Mâcon."

Mette Hjort (Professor of English and Intercultural Studies, University of Hong Kong)

"How do shopping centres end up as temples and holiday resorts as paradises? Why is the concept of the 'good life' communicated by television news broadcasts every day? Why is Michael Jackson’s glove traded as if it were a relic? Why do cults thrive around Elvis Presley? Is martyrdom expressed in anorexia these days? What has caused the change in religious expression in our melodramatic society? These and other questions suggest that we need new standards for judging religious experiences."

Doreet LeVitte Harten (curator of the exhibitions “Heaven” and "Die neuen Hebräer" [the New Hebrews]), among others. From May 2005 in the Martin-Gropius-Bau"