RCA School of Humanities Hosts 40th Association of Art Historians Conference
The Royal College of Art’s School of Humanities is the host of the 40th Association of Art Historians Conference this week, welcoming more than 500 academics, art historians and artists from across the globe.
The annual conference, which has taken place at museums and educational institutions around the UK since 1975, is one of the foremost scholarly events for researchers and practitioners across art history and visual culture disciplines. This year, through the unique context of the interdisciplinary art college, the Royal College of Art aims to foreground art history’s relationship with practice.
Dean of the School of Humanities Jane Pavitt, who, with her team and the AAH, has organised the conference, explained that the RCA’s interdisciplinary nature and culture of practice makes it a significant host. This cultural environment has influenced the choice of plenary speakers – the cultural theorist and critic Mieke Bal, based at the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis, and Grayson Perry, the award-winning artist and cultural critic known for his ceramic works.
‘Our ambition is to unite the interests of art history with those of contemporary practice, drawing in the widest diversity of visual and material culture, including fashion, art, architecture and design,’ said Pavitt.
Session themes will span geographical, historical and intellectual considerations, from the kinetic art of prehistoric Europe to art censorship in Iran, and art history and ecology. The broader debate around the relationship between art history and the museum, and the object as the starting point for the writing of art history, will also be prominent.
'This debate takes in histories of display, the uses of collections for teaching, and exhibition practices and curating with transnational networks,’ adds Pavitt.
Royal College of Art research students and alumni including Emily Candela (History of Design), Owen Johnson (Ceramics & Glass), JJ Charlesworth (Critical & Historical Studies), Yeseung Lee (Fashion Womenswear) and Helena Bonett (Curating Contemporary Art) are among those who will give papers throughout the 41 sessions. RCA staff convening sessions include Curating Contemporary Art Head of Programme Victoria Walsh, Critical & Historical Studies Tutor Lucy Soutter, History of Design Senior Tutor Sarah Cheang, and Critical & Historical Studies Tutor Chantal Faust.
The identity for the event, designed by Visual Communication alumni Jack Llewellyn and Giulia Garbin, references the Museum of Modern Art director Alfred Barr’s 1936 hand-drawn chart illustrating the development of modern art.
‘The identity is a really lovely, witty referral to Barr’s development of modern art, also evoking the networks and connections between previous conferences and partners,’ said Pavitt.
The 40th Association of Art Historians Conference will be the first time that the RCA has hosted the event in a sole capacity. The event is not-for-profit, covering its costs through delegates and sponsorship.Â
For more information, see the Association of Art Historians website.