CALL FOR PAPERS

Plaster and Plaster Casts: materiality and practice

Thursday 12 and Friday 13 March 2010

Two day conference at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Deadline: 29 March 2009

The conference seeks to address plaster and plaster casts in terms of
material, process and the status of the model. Why and when do artists
and/or architects choose to employ plaster or plaster casts? How have these
been read and referred to? What associations does the material evoke? How
do plaster and plaster casts fit into the wider field of reproductive
materials, such as wax, drawings, prints or photography? What is their
place in the context of architecture and the study of architectural
history?

Papers are invited that address these and other related issues. While it is
anticipated that a majority of papers will address European and American
themes from the eighteenth century to the present, the organisers do not
want to impose any restrictions on periods and/or geographical areas under
discussion.

The conference will bring together an interdisciplinary community of
scholars and address issues relevant to art historians, architectural
historians, archaeologists, philosophers, cultural historians,
museologists, and conservators, from teaching institutions and museums.
Conference attendees will also have a chance to study informally the
magnificent collection of plasters on display at the V&A.

Proposals (300 words maximum) should be sent to Eckart.Marchandsas.ac.uk
<mailto:Eckart.Marchandsas.ac.uk> no later than 29 March 2009.

For enquiries and further information please contact one of the organisers:
Eckart Marchand (The Warburg Institute, London; Eckart.marchandsas.ac.uk)
Marjorie Trusted (Victoria & Albert Museum, London; m.trustedvam.ac.uk
<mailto:m.trustedvam.ac.uk> )
or, for architecture,
Charles Hind (Victoria and Albert Museum, London / Royal Institute of
British Architects; c.hindvam.ac.uk)