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How are breath, wind, and spirit connected to art, philosophy, literature, and the human understanding of the world? These questions will be explored by international researchers at the symposium Breath, Wind, Spirit, taking place on 24 November 2026 in Florence, co-organised by the Science and Research Centre Koper (ZRS Koper) and Gonzaga University in Florence.
The symposium builds on contemporary research into the philosophy of breath, which has been developed at ZRS Koper for more than a decade by a research group led by Prof. Dr. Lenart Škof. Its aim is to shed light on the often-overlooked connections between breath, wind, and spirit, as well as their role in the European philosophical, artistic, and literary traditions.
The event also carries particular symbolic significance, as it continues ZRS Koper’s collaboration with the late philosopher Patrick Burke, Professor of Philosophy at Gonzaga University, who served for several years as Dean of its study centre in Florence. Burke collaborated with ZRS Koper researchers in the field of respiratory philosophy, including at the international Respiratory Philosophy conference held in Portorož in 2023. The symposium will take place in the Patrick Burke Memorial Seminar Room, recently dedicated to his memory.
The keynote lecture will be delivered by Prof. Alessandro Nova, former Director of the Max Planck Institute for Art History in Florence, who will explore the storm as both a natural phenomenon and a metaphor in the works of Leonardo da Vinci and Nicolas Poussin.
The programme will bring together presentations on the rhythm of breathing in the literature of Jon Fosse, the concept of aura in Dante’s work, the history of perfumery in 16th-century Italy, Islamic understandings of contraction and expansion, and other aspects of the relationship between air, nature, and spirituality. Participants will also include Prof. Dr. Lenart Škof, Rose Byfleet, Carool Kersten, Francesco Vossilla, Heather Webb, and Alberto Parisi. The symposium will conclude with a roundtable discussion featuring all speakers.
Event details
- Date: Tuesday, 24 November 2026
- Time: 9:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
- Venue: Patrick Burke Memorial Seminar Room, Gonzaga in Florence, Via Giorgio La Pira 11/13, Florence
- Co-organisers: ZRS Koper and Gonzaga University in Florence, in collaboration with Dr. Jason Houston.
Breath, Wind, Spirit — FlyerPrenos
The symposium is organised within the framework of the research programme P6-0279 Philosophy and Arts, led by Prof. Dr. Lenart Škof and financially supported by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS).