Decline - Metamorphosis - Rebirth
International conference for PhD Students

Throughout history mankind has witnessed rises and declines of
civilisations, governments and regimes, ideologies and ideas, cultural
movements and artistic creativity. The periods of crisis in social as
well as artistic fields are generally periods of reflection and pursuit
of new ways. However, crises often bring about voices that advocate a
return to old values and beliefs. Various connotations may be implied by
the word »decline«, which in turn leads to different understandings of
the concept. That is why the term itself rarely refers to something
terminal – revivals of ideas, past ages and artistic movements are a
common historical occurrence. In connection to these revivals and
bearing in mind Heraclitus's utterance »Ever-newer waters flow on those
who step into the same rivers.«, new questions emerge: what is the
effect of a new historical context on old, revived ideas, and what is
the dialectical relationship between their manifestations in different
periods of time?

The international conference Decline – Metamorphosis – Rebirth is
intended for PhD students and recent PhD graduates from different fields
of humanities and social sciences, who are invited to participate.
Proposed topics for interdisciplinary analyses are:

- understanding and interpretation of concepts of decline,
transformation/metamorphosis and rebirth in different periods and in
different fields of humanities and social sciences;
- artistic creation and modes of living in periods of decline,
transformation and rebirth (the effect of social changes on artistic
creativity, artistic and/or creative reactions on social changes);
- ways of understanding and attitudes towards historical phenomena,
periods, and cultural heritage in different periods of time;
- decline, transformation and rebirth of social systems, political
structures, ideologies;
- artistic and social contexts and the role of historicisms, neo- and
post- styles in art;
- decline, transformation and rebirth as iconographical motifs;
- metamorphosis of iconographical motifs, ways in which they are
perceived in new contexts;
- forgotten, rediscovered or »rehabilitated« artists;
- crisis, transformation, and rebirth in an individual artist's oeuvre;
- revival (Nachleben) of concepts and content within art historical
periods.


Abstract in English of maximum 400 words should be send, with the title
of the paper, name and contact information (address, phone number,
e-mail) until 12th of May 2014 by e-mail to phdconference2014gmail.com
or by post to Department of Art History, Faculty of Arts, Aškerčeva 2,
SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia (with the note "Conference for PhD
students").

For further information about the conference and the application please
visit:
http://phdconference2014.wix.com/dmr-ljubljana