[spectre] CFP: Perspectives on Art Histories in the Balkans (Paris, 18-20 Mar 26)

[Andreas Broeckmann]

From: Alessandro Gallicchio
Date: Apr 5, 2025
Subject: CFP: Perspectives on Art Histories in the Balkans (Paris, 18-20 
Mar 26)

INHA - Paris, Mar 18–20, 2026
Deadline: Jun 30, 2025

PERSPECTIVES ON ART HISTORIES IN THE BALKANS. Actors, Networks, and 
Practices from the Early Modern to the Contemporary.

The symposium “Perspectives on Art Histories in the Balkans: Actors, 
Networks, and Practices from the Early Modern to the Contemporary” is 
designed to be a forum for dialogue between academic researchers and 
cultural players. Devoted to the visual art of the Balkans, this will be 
the first of a series of triannual meetings bringing together in one 
place the fields of art research and artistic creation. The symposium is 
organized by a number of French research centers, and will be held at 
the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art in Paris. With the goal of 
stimulating new dynamics of research, it is open to the entire range of 
topics addressed by such disciplines as art history, the history of 
architecture, and the history of cinema.

In the absence of a French specific tradition in the art history of the 
modern and contemporary Balkans, other disciplines (history, sociology, 
geography, anthropology, political science, and literature and language 
studies) have filled the void, supplying their various viewpoints on the 
objects of study. French and Francophone research is, in fact, made up 
of these contributions, and it is strongly marked by these intersecting 
methodologies and epistemologies. The same is true geographically, since 
the art of the Balkans has often been studied as a part of wider areal, 
political, or confessional frameworks. As a result of these boundary 
crossings, it has become possible to analyze artistic practices through 
transdisciplinary and transnational perspectives. Today, a new 
generation of specialists and researchers, as well as cultural players, 
are continuing these investigations, with conscious attention given to 
formal and aesthetic questions.

This conference takes its place, therefore, within the new academic 
tendency seeking to reevaluate, in terms of content and methodology, the 
frames of reference underpinning the study of the arts. The approach 
will be primarily diachronic (following initial artistic creation 
through its transformations), with the aim of establishing dialogue 
between studies of imperial dynamics in the modern era and research on 
the contemporary Balkans. Such boundary crossing will make possible the 
study of the formal, conceptual, and material development of the 
artworks by bringing to light borrowings, overlappings, and tensions. By 
including this wider historical dimension, the conference aims to 
explore, beyond heritage studies, the multi-faceted materiality of artworks.

Through this event, the conference organizers are hoping to be able to 
look at the visual art of the Balkans from a comparative and inclusive 
perspective. The Balkans are to be understood as an area of creativity 
with fluid frontiers – a space where art research can be conducted in 
terms that are global as much as national, regional, and diasporic 
(“beyond the state”). Such investigations will foreground the study of 
movements and exchanges, inviting formal and theoretical comparisons and 
contrasts.

Finally, it should be noted that French research on the Balkans, 
although certainly enriched by the fact that certain countries in the 
region are both French-speaking and Francophile, must still confront the 
question of language. Translation in this area is not extensive, and 
thus English has emerged as common territory for most specialists. It 
will be the language used for this first research meeting. At the same 
time, the conference will provide an opportunity to analyze the stakes 
involved in such a choice, notably with respect to differing 
epistemologies. It will provide an occasion, therefore, to foster the 
interrogation of translation and transfer, and the exploration of 
specific differences, incompatibilities even, of meaning.

Topic areas may include, but are not limited to, the following:

- Formal and Prosopographic Approaches
The numerous histories of the arts of the Balkans lay claim to a long 
methodological tradition that favors biography and the prosopographic 
study of artistic careers. In addition to this, there exists a vast 
literature devoted to formal and formalist studies of the artworks. How 
are we to see this monographic writing today? Do these works have a 
contribution to make towards a better understanding of the dynamics at 
work in the various national contexts? What formal templates are being 
applied in the various analyses of the arts of the region?

- Movements, Transfers, and Exchanges
In suggesting this topic area, the organizers are looking for papers 
that will examine instances of influence, transfer, and movement without 
producing forced comparisons or reducing such cases to binary 
oppositions. Can a hybrid history, one that simultaneously traces 
artistic theory and artistic practice, tease out – in terms of 
influences, shared approaches, and analogies – the relations between the 
various Balkan scenes and external centers of production? What is the 
contribution of postimperial and postcolonial studies to our 
understanding of artistic exchange?

- Constructing Identity, Nation, and Politics
The arts have often participated in the creation and transformation of 
identities during times immediately following periods of radical change. 
At the same time, art histories have appeared that have bolstered 
certain views of national and religious identity, taking one side or 
another in political conflicts. How are we to interpret and evaluate 
artists’ participation in the various movements involved in these 
numerous contexts of transition? What has been the role played by 
artistic practice in the manifestation and management of collective 
trauma? In what way do European integration and contemporary 
geopolitical developments bear upon the questions asked by recent 
artistic productions?

- New Struggles in Society and New Patterns of Commitment
The historiography devoted to the arts of the Balkans is now very much 
concerned to include topics and methodological approaches that are 
inspired by current struggles in society. It would seem appropriate, 
therefore, to ask about the place assigned to feminist and 
intersectional practices, as well as ecological endeavors, in the arts. 
What is their role within aesthetic and activist productions? How do 
these struggles enter into synergy with other social battles?

- The Stakes of Memory and Heritage The profusion of narratives of 
remembrance has had a direct impact on the various stages in the 
construction of national and religious identities. This is true as much 
today as it was during the imperial age, and it has gone along, often 
enough, with a deep rewriting of government policies with regard to 
national heritage, subject as such policies are to the constructions of 
history. In the light of these changing contexts, what are the dynamics 
of remembrance at work in national and/or regional governmental policies 
with respect to culture and heritage? How do museums and their 
collections change? How do artists interact with the past? What are the 
historical and artistic conditions that frame the building of monuments, 
and what is the role played by the arts in discussions around these 
witnesses to often dissonant pasts?

- Institutions, Networks, and Sites
Because of the uncertain nature of institutional support for artistic 
production, cultural actors are forced to develop new strategies of 
(self-) organization. What can we learn by mapping public, 
para-official, and alternative institutions? Can we retrace their 
histories and trajectories? What impact does globalization have on local 
artistic networks and on recent developments in the art market in the 
Balkans?

A workshop open to students will be organized around this intersecting 
national and international research. Participants will be invited to 
engage in an informal exchange of ideas and to share their thoughts on 
emerging points of epistemological agreement.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES Proposals for papers should be written in English 
and should not exceed one page (Times New Roman, 12, spacing 1.15). 
Please provide also a short biography of yourself (350 words maximum).

Talks should last 20 minutes and will be followed by a discussion session.

Proposals are due by June 30, 2025, and should be sent to the following 
address: conferenceartsbalkans at gmail.com

We shall review all proposals during September 2025.
It is expected that the symposium will lead to a publication.

The conference organizers are unable to cover participants’ transport 
and housing costs.


Reference / Quellennachweis:
CFP: Perspectives on Art Histories in the Balkans (Paris, 18-20 Mar 26). 
In: ArtHist.net, Apr 5, 2025. <https://arthist.net/archive/47184>.