Description
This 2-day Seminar on the topic “Innovation in Art: Conditions and Processes” centers on innovations in art at various historical moments and in various geographical locations and consider the extent to which interpretations of these innovations has changed since 1989. The goal is to come to a better understanding of the ways in which art historical approaches have been affected by geopolitical changes in the past twenty years and how these changes vary from place to place. We will think about this question on three levels: artists, individual art works, and general criteria. Has the interpretation of what constitutes innovation shifted? Are there artworks that were considered innovative, but are no longer? Have new art works, movements, or artists been promoted to the ranks of the innovative? How is/was innovation defined and perceived? What is the role played by ideological shifts and by other factors (demographic, economic, political)? Who are the key figures in shaping perceptions about innovation today? How do we explain these circumstances?
Background
The initiative began with informal discussions at international conferences. Scholars recognized that a paradigm shift has occurred since 1989. They agreed that it is important to come to a better understanding of why and how art historiography is shifting within former East Block nations and how western perceptions of the art produced in these countries is evolving. Because this is a dynamic process with many actors, a forum that was dynamic and flexible seemed like an appropriate strategy. While the currently-planned seminars are the initiative of senior scholars, it is hoped that younger scholars and advanced graduate students will become involved. In this way, the Nomad seminars will remain responsive, relevant, stimulating, and productive.
An international consortium of (currently) 8 institutions are planning to hold 2-day seminars beginning in 2010 under the general topic “Writing Art History: Linking Center(s) and Periphery(ies)”. Since 1989, geopolitical changes have had a significant impact on art history. A positivist teleological orientation has eroded and been replaced by a multi-faceted, decentralized mapping. New issues, unfamiliar artists, neglected art works, and a questioning of the free market values that established the hierarchy of art production have poured through the cracks of an outdated art historical paradigm.
Nomad seminars are undertaken at the initiative of scholars at individual institutions with the idea that they should be shaped according to the particular interests and needs of their institution, while addressing the question: “What is the place of art and architectural history today, and how is this perceived differently in different geographical locations?”We expect that as the seminars continue the network of participants will grow.
Purpose
Create an international forum for rethinking art history as a discipline. The Nomad seminars will raise historiographic and methodological questions and foster discussion of the polyphonic and interdisciplinary perspectives informing recent approaches to art history. Keith Moxey noted in The Practice of Theory. Poststructuralism, Cultural Politics, and Art History (1994): “The writing of art history is often regarded as if it were a self-evident enterprise in which historians share common assumptions and common goals…As a consequence, it is possible for the discipline to operate on the basis of a hidden agenda that is difficult to challenge because it is not supposed to exist” (p. 111) It is this hidden agenda that the Nomad seminars seek to question.
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