Appel à communication : « Crisis: Art and Decision »

bernProgrammed by the Vereinigung der Kunsthistorikerinnen und Kunsthistoriker in der Schweiz (VKKS) in collaboration with the University of Bern, and the ETH Zurich under the aegis of the Comité International de l’Histoire de l’Art (CIHA).

The conference organized by the Vereinigung der Kunsthistorikerinnen und Kunsthistoriker in der Schweiz (VKKS) in collaboration with the University of Bern, and the ETH Zurich under the aegis of the Comité International de l’Histoire de l’Art (CIHA) takes as its starting point the derivation of the ancient Greek verb krinein (“to divide”, “to decide”, “to separate”), which relates to both “crisis” and “critique.” How can we make fruitful the concept of crisis, which is mainly used in the fields of economy, politics and psychology for the field of art history? What has become of the many cases of crisis – be it art, art history, the museum, the market, etc. – which have been proclaimed during the last decade. Is the idea of the artistic crisis, as a moment of radical change within an individual career, a topos from the historiography of romantic and modernist art, still useful today? Does the notion of political or economic crisis help to understand changes in the realm of art? And can the practice of art criticism and its normative criteria of value and quality, which during the 20th century got separated from the academic practice of art historiography, inspire the methodology of the discipline as a whole?

Proposals from all geographical and temporal areas of art history and related disciplines, which reflect on the theoretical potential or the concepts of critique and crisis, are welcome.

 

Modalities of participation – deadline for sending: 1st October 2014

 

Three files are required for the application:

 

1)    A proposal for communication, not exceeding 1000 words, in one of the five official languages of the CIHA (German, English, French, Italian, Spanish).

2)    A summary in English of the proposal, not exceeding 250 words

3)    A selected Curriculum Vitae

 

These three documents will be sent by email to the following address:

barbara.biedermann@ikg.unibe.ch

We might be able to help with some of the travel and accommodation expenses of the selected candidates.

Organization Committee:

  • Peter J. Schneemann, Director of the Chair for the History of Modern and Contemporary Art, University of Bern; Treasurer of the CIHA
  • Philip Ursprung, Professor for the History of Art and Architecture, ETH Zurich; Titular Member CIHA
  • Jan Blanc, Professor for the History of Renaissance and Early Modern Art, University of Geneva; President of the Association of Art Historians in Switzerland (VKKS)

 

Scientific Committee:

  • Jan Blanc, Professor for the History of Renaissance and Early Modern Art, University of Geneva; President of the Association of Art Historians in Switzerland (VKKS)
  • Dario Gamboni, Professor for the History of Modern and Contemporary Art, University of Geneva; Titular Member CIHA
  • Andreas Münch, Director of the Federal Art Collection, Federal Office of Culture, Bern; former President of the Association of Art Historians in Switzerland (VKKS)
  • Kornelia Imesch Oechslin, Professor for the History of Modern and Contemporary Art, University of Lausanne; Supplementary Member CIHA
  • Philip Ursprung, Professor for the History of Art and Architecture, ETH Zurich; Titular Member CIHA
  • Peter J. Schneemann, Director of the Chair for the History of Modern and Contemporary Art, University of Bern; Treasurer of the CIHA

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