Appel à communication : « Charming Intentions: Occultism, Magic and the History of Art » University of Cambridge, December 3 – 04, 2012

The conference aims to provide a stimulating arena for the presentation of innovative research in this field as well as to offer a vibrant and thought-provoking forum for scholarly discussion and exchange.

Acceptable topics include, but are by no means limited to, the following areas: 

• The sacred and the profane;
• The material culture of magic, ritual and sacrifice;
• Objects of totemic, apotropaeic or fetishistic character;
• Aspects of mysticism in Jewish, Christian and Islamic art and architecture;
• Satanism, witchcraft and demonology;
• Sacred geometry, numerology and cosmology;
• The arcane sciences (including astrology, alchemy, gnosticism, the Hermetic tradition, the Quabalah and the tarot game);
• Art-theoretical discussions of the spiritual, the sublime, the marvellous, the numinous and the uncanny;
• Artistic investigations of myth, fantasy and utopia;
• Visual aspects of occult movements such as Rosicrucionism, Freemasonry, Theosophy, Mesmerism, Spiritism and New Age Spirituality;
• The supernatural and the spiritual in modern and contemporary art;
• Occultism and magic in contemporary popular culture. Presentations should not exceed a maximum of 20 minutes and will be followed by a 10- minute Q&A session. The sessions will be chaired by senior scholars within the University of Cambridge’s History of Art Department. We also hope to publish selected conference papers in a book of proceedings. Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be sent to charming.intentions@gmail.com alongside a CV of 1-2 pages. Deadline for submission is the 30th of September 2012. All abstracts will be peer-reviewed and successful applicants will be notified about acceptance of their papers before the 15th of October 2012. Early applications are strongly encouraged.

  The Conference Committee

  Josefine Baark, PhD Candidate, Homerton College Gabriel Byng, PhD Candidate, Clare College
  Imma Ramos, PhD Candidate, Pembroke College Daniel Zamani, PhD Candidate, Trinity College