Appel à communication : « Art Markets and Politics. State Control and Trade in Global Perspective » (Berlin, 4-5 novembre 2016)

The consequences of Brexit, art looting, and cultural protection legislation – politics and art-dealing are interlocked in manifold ways. Forum Kunst und Markt’s fifth international workshop at TU Berlin will inquire in a historical long-term perspective about this “intervention” of politics in the workings of the art trade:

• What opportunities do the art markets gain and lose in different political systems and the resulting diverse forms of government (monarchy, dictatorship, democracy etc.)? To what extent do the general political frameworks for art-dealing differ from one another in the respective states?
• Which authorities and institutions (legislative bodies, customs et al.) are involved in specifying the political guidelines and measures? How are these institutions specifically involved and what are the consequences for the trade?
• How do the art markets react to these acts of state control and intervention which range from laws regulating the market and art censorship to expropriation by the state and war looting?

The convenors are not only calling for contributions on recently completed research but are expressly looking for reports on research-in-progress that can shed light on the various aspects of interest, from a comparative perspective or as case studies.

The focus is on the traditional Central European art market centers as well as on regions like Eastern Europe, the Middle East and South America, countries like China and India, global centers like New York and London, and not least on political no-man’s land like free ports and smuggling routes. The conference thereby also specifically inquires about fault lines and antagonisms in the relationship between the art market and politics across state borders.

Convenors: Dr. Dorothee Wimmer, Dr. Thomas Skowronek, Prof. Dr. Bénédicte Savoy, assisted by Lukas Fuchsgruber M.A.

The workshop will open on Friday, November 4, 2016, with an evening lecture.
Conference date: Saturday, November 5, 2016, all day, Senate Room, Technische Universität Berlin.
Conference languages are English and German.

Please send proposals (maximum 2000 characters including spaces) and a brief curriculum vitae by September 7, 2016 to: artmarketsandpolitics@gmail.com.