Call for papers

Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art
8th international academic conference

'Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art' conference is an international academic forum held biannually by Lomonosov Moscow State University and Saint Petersburg State University, supported by major Russian museums. The conference takes place alternately in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. In Saint Petersburg, the State Hermitage Museum acts as its permanent partner. In 2018, the conference will be held in Moscow, with the State Tretyakov Gallery as partner museum.

The conference is dedicated to a wide range of issues related to history and theory of visual arts and architecture, conservation and interpretation of Russian and international cultural heritage, and interaction between academic science and museum experience. The chronological scope of this interdisciplinary forum spans from prehistoric era to contemporary stage. The conference welcomes art historians, culture theorists, archaeologists, art conservators, museum practitioners, and other humanities scholars whose research areas include architecture, visual and decorative arts.


The conference of 2018 focuses on the topic of Borders and Horizons.

The program of the conference includes plenary session and ten thematic sections:
Art of the Ancient World;
Eastern Christian Art;
Western European Medieval Art;
Russian Medieval Art;
Renaissance Art;
Western Art of the Modern Times;
Russian Art of the 18th and 19th Centuries;
Modern and Contemporary Art;
Oriental Art
Theory of Art;
Challenges in Displaying Modern and Contemporary Art Collections.


Call for papers is open through May 12, 2018, via the official website of the conference: actual-art.spbu.ru. To apply, one needs to register an account and fill in the online application form, which includes abstract 2.000 to 3.500 characters. Working languages of the conference are Russian and English. Oral and poster presentations are accepted.

Postgraduate and Ph.D. students should also provide recommendations from their academic supervisors. Recommendation letter in the form of the scanned document signed by the academic supervisor should be attached to the online application form.
The information about selected applications will be available in participants’ accounts on the conference website on June 20, 2018.

Abstracts will be published in electronic form in 2018, and best papers will be included in collected essays of the conference due to appear as two volumes in 2019 and 2020 (this peer-reviewed publication is indexed in SCOPUS and RSCI databases).
Please find the full call for papers here: actual-art.spbu.ru

Organizing committee of the conference:
conferenceactual-art.org
actual-art.spbu.ru