New Directions in the Study of Medieval Sculpture
Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, United Kingdom
Friday 16 March - Saturday 17 March, 2018
Focusing on the materiality of medieval sculpture has proven crucial to its study and has expanded our historical understanding of sculpture itself. Whether monumental relief sculpture in stone, wooden sculptures in the round, sculpted altarpieces, ivory plaques or enamelled reliquaries, the possibilities for research on medieval sculpture now extend far beyond the established canon.
Contemporary medieval sculpture studies have opened the field to comparative and inclusive research that embraces the social, performative, gendered and ritual uses of medieval sculpture. These developments have inspired the organisers of the conference New Directions in the Study of Medieval Sculpture to reflect on the field and ask how do we investigate medieval sculpture today and what might come ‘after’ materiality?
This two-day conference seeks to assess and critique the state of the field on medieval sculpture and to investigate new directions, approaches and technologies for research. A consideration of the state of the field could be approached through, but is not limited to, the following topics:
Processes and techniques of medieval sculpture
The sensory experience of medieval sculpture
The ephemeral and intangible aspects of medieval sculpture
Medieval sculpture, photography and digital reproduction
Archives, casts and reconstructing medieval sculpture
Sculpture and medievalism
Historiography of medieval sculpture studies
Exhibition histories of medieval sculpture
This conference is hosted by the Henry Moore Institute, a centre for the study of sculpture, and is convened by Dr Elisa Foster, 2016-18 Henry Moore Foundation Post-doctoral Fellow.
Accommodation and reasonable travel expenses within the UK will be reimbursed.
Paper proposals of approximately 300 words and a short biography should be sent via email to Dr Elisa Foster: elisa.foster@henry-moore.org by 30 September 2017.