OSMOSIS
Re-Telling European Art and Architectural History

Symposium Leiden, May 30 2008,
Leiden University

Programme

09.00 Welcome, subscription
09.30 Opening of the symposium by Caroline A. van Eck, professor of the
theory and history of western architecture
09.45 Introduction to 'Osmosis' by Juliette Roding and Yvonne van
Eekelen, organizers of the symposium, Department of art history, Leiden
University
10.15 Key-note lecture 'Art of the Viceroyalties: a global view of the
cultural field', by Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, Frederick Marquand
professor of art and archaeology, Princeton University (NJ)
11.15 'Rembrandt, Frans Hals? Yes, and Jan Steen as well. The emergence
of blacks in Dutch art and art history of the Golden Age', by Elmer
Kolfin, Department of art history, University of Amsterdam

11.45 Coffee break

12.00 'Imagining the Congo. Architect Henri Lacoste's project for and in
the Belgian colony, 1931-1960', by Johan Lagae, Department of
architecture and urban planning, Ghent University
12.30 'The problems of originality, hybridity and political correctness
in constructing art history of a distant country: the case of Estonia',
by Krista Kodres, professor of art history, Eesti Kunstiakadeemia,
Tallinn

13.00 Lunch

14.00 'Showing the bridge', by Rachida Azough, creative director
Kosmopolis, Rotterdam
14.30 'Alone in the world', by Richard Hermans, director of The
Netherlands Institute for Heritage, Amsterdam
15.00 Discussion groups (scholars, museum directors and conservators,
officials of the Dutch government)

16.00 Tea break

16.30 Panel discussion; conclusions of the symposium 

Drinks

Re-Telling European Art and Architectural History
The increasing cultural diversity in Europe has both artistic and social
consequences and even impacts on many aspects of policy making. The
production of visual art and architecture has been subjected to a
plethora of influences as a result of the mixing of various traditions,
through which new visions, meanings and values are emerging. The
culturally-minded public has become more diverse, with the result that
subsidized institutes for cultural heritage are finding they have to
redefine their relation to their collections and exhibitions. Public
bodies and institutions are being forced to legitimize their policy to a
new public. There is a need for new value systems, both within and
outside of art historical circles, in the form of policy frameworks for
governmental institutions and institutes for cultural heritage. Although
the scope of the current developments is larger and more complex than
those of the last centuries, the phenomenon of intercultural influence
along with the subsequent consequences for our visions and values
pertaining to visual art and architecture is not new. Throughout the
centuries there have been various instances of intercultural exchange
with other cultures in various European countries.

Up until quite recently a type of split has existed in the museum world:
non-Western art has principally been the domain of ethnographical
museums, while art museums have mainly occupied themselves with
collecting and taking stock of works relating to "our own cultural
heritage". In line with this split, the written history of art has
either overlooked many of the works categorized as ethnographical, only
mentioned them in passing, or has only discussed them very one-sidedly.
Even European artists living abroad in other European countries have
often been shut out from the art history of their own countries. A whole
new world can thus be opened along the lines of mutual influence and
inspiration and a new type of exhibition and collection policy can be
generated in which intercultural wealth and cultural diversity can
finally be brought to light and given their due attention. The
re-telling of art history can provide cultural heritage institutions
with suggestions and guidance on how to present forgotten or little
discussed connections, through which they can appeal to a more
culturally-diverse public. This responds to the desire of the various
bodies to make public heritage collections and museums more interesting
to (the cultural supporters of) new communities. Mapping out the changes
in qualitative criteria during the chosen instances provides points of
departure for reassessing the current value systems and thereby also for
the subsidization of visual art and architecture. 

Osmosis: A natural process based on the principle of diffusion in which
a solvent-containing fluid passes through a semi-permeable membrane
which allows the passage of the fluid into a more concentrated solution
but not the dissolved materials. In this same manner countless numbers
of cultural influences enter a certain culture, in which they leave
residues and then proceed further along their way. Influences thereby
accumulate within established traditions and these do not replace the
existing culture; the two enrich each other with the addition of
valuable elements.

Location: Plexus, Kaiserstraat 25  2311 GN Leiden
Tel.: 00 31 (0) 71 5278008/5278011
www.plexus.leidenuniv.nl <http://www.plexus.leidenuniv.nl/>  

For information and subscription (before May 20):
Juliette Roding
Faculty of Arts
Pallas, Institute for Art Historical and Literary Studies
P.N. van Eyckhof 3, 1165/105b
P.O. Box 9515
2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
Telephone + 31(0)71 5272166/2154
e-mail: [log in to unmask] 

Payment of 50 EUR (including abstracts, coffee, tea, lunch and afternoon
drinks) on ABN/AMRO no. 442287348, Universiteit Leiden, Faculteit
Letteren; reference: SAP 1580001007 (Osmosis)
(Swiftcode bank: ABNANL2a)
(free for students)