Two calls for papers announced by the Collecting and Display Seminar
(run by Adriana Turpin, Andrea M. Gáldy, and Susan Bracken) may be of
interest:
Please also be aware of two calls for papers that we recently posted on
the RSA website for sessions at the RSA annual meeting in Chicago in
2014. Please visit www.rsa.org for further information on the society
and on attending at the conferences.
Collecting and the Peripheries
When scholars of the early modern period started to focus on (princely)
collections in the 1980s, they often concentrated on Italy as the
epicentre of cultural development and progress. The courts of Florence,
Rome, Urbino or Ferrara were regarded as hubs of collecting, while the
rest of Europe either seemed not to care very much (England and Spain)
or was too poor and uncivilised (large parts of Germany and Eastern
Europe) to follow the Italian example. Even though recent studies have
started to investigate collections built and displayed in the
peripheries, much of the research conducted these days still underwrites
a supposed Italian supremacy. Nonetheless, we know that even a place
such as Florence picked up fashions in collecting, in palace building
and in interior architecture from other courts north and south of the
Alps as well as from the East and West. A main issue to be investigated
is, therefore, that of hubs and peripheries and whether any such
division has ever been as clear-cut as has long been assumed.
Another issue is the question of models and trendsetters. In particular,
the multi-cultural Holy Roman Empire, bringing together traditions from
Burgundy, Spain and from the Austrian Habsburg territories among others,
offers a multitude of collections, examples of multinational
collectibles, as well as some of the earliest theoretical writings on
the subject. Nevertheless, when collections from the empire are
discussed, as happens more often now, they are usually compared to other
examples from the North of Europe or seen as second-rate followers of
the fashions at Italian courts.
Rather than continuing a traditional view of Europe separated into
cultural donors and receivers, we expect to renegotiate long-standing
certainties. Therefore, we invite proposals of 150 words that focus on
clusters or networks of exchange, favour a multinational,
multiconfessional and multidisciplinary approach to the rise and
development of early modern collections and seek to establish new ways
of defining models and trendsetters, as well as centres and peripheries.
If you wish to contribute to the discussion, please send your abstracts
and CVs (in accordance with the guidelines set out at
http://www.rsa.org/page/2017Chicago) to [log in to unmask]
on or before 28 May 2016.
The Collection as Laboratory
During the sixteenth century, collectors became interested in
increasingly varied types of objects. Whereas in many studioli, the
display was intended to invite comparisons between antiquities and
contemporary works of the art, in other collections the aim was to
present the relationships and even rivalries between artificialia and
naturalia. A concern with man’s ingenuity was an important element in
such new collections, as has been studied in relation to such well-known
sixteenth century collections in Florence, or Munich or somewhat later
in Prague. Horst Bredekamp observed that ‘the idea of using the
collection as an active laboratory rather than a passive collection
corresponded to the Promethean practice, perceiving the actions of
collecting, researching and constructing the collection as a unit.’ The
collector could thus be not just an acquisitor but also a creator. He
could himself develop the skills to create complex works of art, the
knowledge and skill to practice ivory turning for example; he could
bring together scientists and mathematicians to explore the universe,
and put to use instruments within the collection. Techniques and new
methods of manufacture were also related to objects in the collection.
The aim of this session is to explore the collection as a laboratory of
scientific investigation and the pursuit of knowledge, whether through
the creation or the use of the objects collected. Although there has
been considerable attention given to the development of the kunst and
wunderkammer collection, the impact of these in terms of manufacture and
impetus for scientific development has been more limited to a few
well-known examples. We would encourage the presentation of papers by
researchers in the history of science, history of manufacture or
collecting. We would also encourage the presentation of material over a
broad geographic base, from the lesser-known Italian and German
collections to other European collections. Although the time frame is
essentially that of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, papers that
cover these sites of knowledge at other times are welcome. We hope
through the exploration of a variety of collections, to bring a richer
understanding of the collection as the nexus of curiosity and skill.
If you wish to contribute to the discussion, please send your abstract
of c 300 words and your CV (in accordance with the guidelines set out at
http://www.rsa.org/page/2017Chicago) to [log in to unmask]
on or before 28 May 2016.
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