LIEU : Split, Croatie
DATE: 17-19 septembre 2015
DEADLINE: 15 avril 2015
Crossroads: East and West / Cultural contacts, transfers and
interchanges between East and West in the Mediterranean
2nd International conference for PhD Students, Split, Croatia
The theme of the conference addresses regions of Europe and Middle East
which, in Classical Antiquity, made part of both “East” and “West”.
Exoticism has been a fundamental part of western perception of “East”
from the time of Herodot who in the Histories, for example, depicts
Scythians as bloodthirsty barbarians. This ambivalent relation towards
foreign and exotic nations has persisted from the Classical Antiquity
throughout Renaissance well into the Modern era.
The East-West dichotomy can be recognized in cultural influences
between East and West through studying interdependence of East and West
in the Mediterranean, as well as through their standoffs in the history
of art practices. The conference will deal with cultural contacts,
exchange, relocations and social trends that enabled creation of
complex concepts and idea-networks throughout history. The symposium
also questions the ways in which “West” has exoticised “East” as well
as the ways in which “East” has perceived “West”, through the prism of
postcolonial and cultural translation theories.
The international conference is intended for PhD students and recent
PhD graduates from different fields of humanities and social sciences,
who are hereby invited to participate.
The proposed topics for interdisciplinary discussions are:
Orientalism in European art and culture
• Europe and Byzantium: Ex Oriente lux et luxus
• Venice and Constantinople: competition, emulation and/or imitation,
mythography
• Europe and Ottoman Empire in early Modern Age: between exoticism and
demonization
• Orient in culture and art of European Romanticism: images and myth of
Orient (fine arts, archaeology, literature, philosophy and music)
• The Middle East in European paintings, prints, book illustrations and
crafts from Romanticism to the beginning of 20th century
• Oriental forms in 19th and 20th century western architecture
• European travellers and artists in the East: exchange of ideas,
concepts and art practices
• Curating and exhibiting art from Eastern Europe
Meeting points: intersections, syncretisms, conflicts between East and
West in the Balkans
• Byzantine Empire and foundations of regional art centres in the
Balkans since Late Antiquity until the end of the Middle Ages
• Struggle for ecclesiastical supremacy between Rome and Constantinople
– interactions between Orthodox and Catholic Christianity, influence on
arts, visual expression and iconography
• Venice and the Balkans in the late Middle Ages and the early Modern
Age: conflicts, coexistence, cultural and artistic dialogue
• Ottoman invasion of the Balkans: impact on culture and art, Ottoman
discourse, establishment of transcultural forms in contact regions,
assimilations and cultural hybrids
• The twilight of political and cultural powers (Ottoman Empire,
Habsburg Monarchy, Venetian Republic) and creation of new national
states: art as reflection of political and national interests
(nationalization and ideologization of art)
• The image of Turks in the art and culture of the Western Balkans and
Central Europe (visual, historical, literal, ethnographic and
cultural-anthropological aspect)
East and West in the age of globalization
• Ideologies, ideological discourses, mythologemes and their artistic
representations and functions
• Western stereotypes of Middle Eastern culture and arts: their
genesis, influences and transformations
• Artistic concepts and theories of art
• Contemporary artistic and architectural trends: elements of
tradition, modern and global
• Contemporary perception of Islam in art: historical, political,
religious, cultural; artist-audience interaction
• Contemporary art practices, literature, cinematography and popular
culture: East-West encounters, coexistence and antagonisms
Abstracts in English of maximum 400 words should be sent, with the
title of the paper, name and contact information (address, phone
number, e-mail) until 15th of April 2015 by e-mail to
phdconference2015@gmail.com or sent by post to Art History Module
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Split, Hrvojeva 8, 21000
Split, CROATIA (with the note “Conference for PhD students”).
For further information about the conference and the application please
visit:
http://phdconference2014.wix.com/dmr-ljubljana