The  First International Congress of Aesthetics (ICA) was organized by Max Dessoir in Berlin in 1913. A second congress took place in Paris in 1937.  Interrupted by the Second World War, the congresses resumed in 1956, when the third congress was held in Venice.  From that time until 1992, congresses took place at four-year intervals. From that time on they have been arranged at three-year intervals. Until 2000 all congresses were held in Europe.  Increasing interest in aesthetics and a greater concern for international communication and association led the Association to enlarge the geographical scope of the congresses, starting with the XVth ICA in Tokyo, 2001. The later congresses were organised in Rio de Janeiro in 2004, Ankara in 2007, Beijing in 2010, Krakow in 2013, Seoul in 2016 and Belgrade in 2019. The next ICA will be in Belo Horizonte, in 2022.

Please note that the membership rate is $ 30 for three  years.

Membership rate for students for three years is $15

n.b. Those who participate in the International Congresses of the IAA (which are held every three years, the next one will be in Belgrade in 2019) are automatically member of the IAA, as the fee for the three year membership of the IAA ($ 30) is included in the congress fee.

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Next to the journals published by the National Societies of Aesthetics, this list also contains the names of journals in the domain of aesthetics and philosophy of art edited by individual members of the IAA, as well as journals of other organizations. 

A Parte Rei. Revista de Filosfia

Aesthetics (ed. by Japanese Society for Aesthetics)

Aisthesis: Revista Chilena de Investigaciones Estéticas

Aisthesis: Rivista de Estetica Online

Aristos

Art and Cognition Workshops

Art+Media – Journal of Art and Media Studies

Arts and Neurosciences

ASAGE

Boletín de Estética

British Journal of Aesthetics

Cinema: Journal of Philosophy and the Moving Image

College Art Association On-Line Reviews

Consciousness, Literature and the Arts

Contemporary Aesthetics

Critical Studies in Improvisation

Culture and Dialogue

Estetika: The Central European Journal of Aesthetics

Esthetica: Tijdschrift voor kunst en filosofie

Espes: Journal of the Society for Aesthetics in Slovakia

Figures de l'Art: Revue d'Etudes Esthetiques

Film and Philosophy

Film-Philosophy

International Yearbook of Aesthetics

Journal of Aesthetic Education

Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

Journal of Aesthetics and Culture

Journal of Aesthetics and Phenomenology

Journal of the Canadian Society for Aesthetics

Laocoonte. Journal of the Spanish Society for Aesthetics

Nordic Journal of Aesthetics

Paroli-Quaderni d'Arte e di Epistemologia

Postgraduate Journal of Aesthetics

Proceedings of the 1997 Sydney Conference on Comparative Aesthetics

Proceedings of the European Society for Aesthetics

Projections: The Journal for Movies and Mind

Proteus: Cahiers des Théories de l’Art

Rivista di Estetica

Studi di Estetica

Sztuka i Filozofia – Art and Philosophy

Terra Aestheticae

The Polish Journal of Aesthetics

Zeitschrift für Ästhetik und Allgemeine Kunstwissenschaft

The International Association of Aesthetics/Association Internationale d’Esthétique formally came into existence in 1988 at the XIth International Congress of Aesthetics in Nottingham, England.  However, the history of international association in aesthetics goes back many years.  It began with the First International Congress of Aesthetics organized by Max Dessoir in Berlin in 1913.   A second congress took place in Paris in 1937.  Interrupted by the Second World War, the congresses resumed in 1956, when the third congress was held in Venice.  From that time until 1992 with the meeting in Madrid, congresses took place at four-year intervals:  in Athens in 1960, Amsterdam in 1964, Upsala in 1968, Bucharest in 1972, Darmstadt in 1976, Dubrovnik in 1980, Montreal in 1984, and in Nottingham in 1988.

Before 1984 these meetings were arranged by the Comité International d'Esthétique.  Its members included many of the most eminent scholars in aesthetics representing countries with a strong tradition in aesthetics, including France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Japan, and the United States.  At various times the Comité included Etienne Souriau, Mikel Dufrenne, Harold Osborne, Luigi Pareyson, Tonomobu Imamichi, Milan Damnjanovic, Thomas Munro, and many other distinguished scholars.

As interest in aesthetics increased throughout the world, this committee, which was self-appointed and self-perpetuating, became at the same time less active and unable to respond to the needs of the growing community of aestheticians.  At the IXth International Congress in 1980 in Dubrovnik, the decision was made to establish an international association.  A committee, partly appointed by the Comité and partly elected by the delegates present, was charged with drafting a constitution.  The work of that committee was presented at the next congress at Montreal in 1984.  A constitution that included membership for both national societies and individual scholars was adopted by the delegates present, and a provisional Executive Committee was elected to begin organizing the Association.    Harold Osborne, who had been a member of the Comité and was instrumental in encouraging the organization of an international association, became our first President, planning was begun for future congresses and proposals made for additional activities of the Association.  He has since been followed in office by Göran Hermerén, Arnold Berleant, Aleš Erjavec, Ken-ichi Sasaki, Heinz Paetzold, Jos de Mul, Curtis Carter, Gao Jianping, Jale Erzen and Miodrag Suvakovic.

Since the election of officers at its formal inauguration in 1988, the IAA/AIE has carried on its activities on a regular basis.  It has continued to organize international congresses, following the meeting in Nottingham with a congress in Madrid in 1992.  Increasing interest in aesthetics and a greater concern for international communication and association led the Association to enlarge the geographical scope of the congresses and to arrange them at three-year intervals, first in Lahti, Finland in 1995, in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 1998, in Tokyo, Japan in 2001, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2004, Ankara, Turkey in 2007, Beijing, China in 2010, Krakow, Poland in 2013 and Seoul, Korea in 2016 and Belgrade, Serbia in 2019.  The Association also expanded its activities to include publication of the IAA Newsletter and, beginning in 1996, the International Yearbook of Aesthetics.  In 2023, the International Congress will be held in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.