"Matter Materiality"
The International Committee for the History of Art is the oldest international organisation for the history of art. It now has more than 40 member countries.
36th CIHA International Congress of Art History (Comité International d'Histoire de l'Art) took place in Lyon from 23 to 29 June 2024, organised by the French Committee for the History of Art (CFHA) in partnership with the National Institute for the History of Art (INHA), Université Lumière Lyon 2 and Laboratoire de recherche historique Rhône-Alpes (LARHRA CNRS UMR 5190).The International Committee for the History of Art is the oldest international organisation for the history of art. It now comprises more than 40 member countries. The main objectives of this internationally renowned scientific and cultural meeting are to support dialogue between different international communities and to exchange and disseminate research with the aim of bringing together different professionals in the field of art history and cultural heritage around a common theme. The congress, in which the SCCRS also participated, was dedicated to matter and materiality, which contributed to an even greater multidisciplinary representation of a wide range of themes and perspectives, with particular attention also being paid to topics related to artificial intelligence (e.g. digital reconstructions). A meeting and consultation of editors of art history publications, the publication RES. by the ZVKDS, and a book fair were also organised.
The theme was presented in tandem by art historian Dr Mateja Neža Sitar and conservator-restorer Vlasta Čobal Sedmak from Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, was Materiality and immateriality in conservation-restoration of murals. Overlooked aspects in treatment and intervention. They highlighted different starting points, approaches and circumstances through the existence of the monument conservation service and restoration practice on our soil, through a concrete issue - the aesthetic presentation of wall paintings, with an emphasis on the current restrained approaches developed by the Working Group on the Protection and Conservation of Murals ZVKDS.
The topic, presented in tandem by art historian Dr Mateja Neža Sitar and conservator-restorer Vlasta Čobal Sedmak from the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, was Materiality and Immateriality in the Conservation-Restoration of Wall Paintings. Overlooked aspects in treatment and interventions.
They particularly highlighted two different aspects of the reading, perception and expectations of the aesthetic presentation of murals by the art historian and by the conservator-restorer by presenting the model of technical art history, which was widely discussed at the congress and which has long been established abroad. So far, not enough attention has been paid to the diversity of perception of what is seen and to raising awareness not only among the general public, but also among academic art history. What we see and interpret is not necessarily what we are really looking at, and we need to ask ourselves what it is that we are really trying to achieve through aesthetic presentation. More information about the CIHA 2024 presentation can be found at: http://www.ciha.org/content/lyon-2024-matter-materiality.
