History of Art Today - Modus Operandi Symposium

School of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon: November 14, 15 and 16, 2022

ARTIS - Art History Institute of the School of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon promotes the History of Art Today – Modus Operandi Symposium, on the occasion of Professor Vítor Serrão's retirement (b.1952).
To the tribute that is due to one of the most influential Portuguese art historians in recent decades, there is also a tribute to another great name in national art history, Professor José-Augusto França (1922-2021), celebrating the centenary of his birth. Exponents of their respective generations, master and disciple, both were decisive in consolidating History of Art in Portugal as an autonomous discipline in terms of teaching, research and civic intervention.
The moment of homage is also a moment of reflection on the importance of Art History today and its role in society.
In broad terms, History of Art has traversed some fundamental avenues, from prehistory to the present day:
1) the multidisciplinary perspective of research around the work of art and the artist, uniting plural visions and using different humanistic and scientific disciplines, to clarify the artistic problem at hand;
2) the trans-contextual perspective of art, valuing not only the time of commission and production - in their temporal connection (iconographic, ideological, stylistic, etc.) - but also the follow-up of the life of the work, in its moments of glory, of undifferentiation or silencing up to present times;
3) the crypto-artistic perspective, in which the artistic study is not limited to physical presence, as missing, mutilated works of art or even those that have not progressed from plans or initial design stages cannot be forgotten;
4) the micro-artistic perspective, expanding the field of analysis and valuing the so-called periphery or regional production, also giving importance to “non-noble” materials;
5) the dialectical perspective between the experience of the work of art and its material fragility, which imposes on the art historian the imperative of safeguarding, in the coordinated action of study, conservation, musealization and enjoyment;
6) the humanistic perspective of a History of Art designed to serve communities, clarifying their identity and memorial valences, as well as the artistic assets that best qualify them.

The organization welcomes the submission of proposals for communications related to the above mentioned points, by sending an abstract with a maximum of 300 words, accompanied by a small biographical note of the author(s), with about 200 words, up until March 31, 2022, to: Organizing Committee for the History of Art Today - Modus Operandi Symposium (artis@letras.ulisboa.pt).