The international workshop "Figures of Emancipation: New Perspectives on Modern Sculpture and Gender in 20th Century in Dialogue" will bring together different perspectives on recent sculptural research in the fields of art history, museology, curatorial practice and contemporary art with focus on the complex relationship between gender and art production. The main motivation of the conference is the historically largely overlooked, however rich and complex legacy of women sculptors who left behind impressive oeuvres and challenged both the artistically and socially imposed norms, approached from a transnational perspective. Our aim is to open new perspectives on this common “blind spot” in sculpture histories and museum practice that transgress the limiting frameworks on national historiographies by opening a dialogue and activating the exchange between the art historical knowledge about the former Western and Eastern European space, therewith addressing the wider cultural, social and political background of the histories in question. The main questions the conference aims to debate are: What role do women play in sculpture history, research, and exhibition/curatorial practice? What were their specific educational and exhibiting infrastructures? Did they receive public commissions, how were their works received by art institutions and the general society? How can they be given more visibility? What terminology and methodological approaches are suitable to approach their works? How can their self-image as women sculptors, (gender-)specific techniques and use of materials be described? How can we use the art historical knowledge on gender relations in sculpture to support and enhance the emancipatory politics in contemporary art and curating/museum practice?

Program

November 16, 2023, Goethe Institute in Belgrade

20:00 Introductory Keynote Lecture by Julia Wallner (Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck): Women Sculptors of Early Modernism, Material Issues
on site and online: https://www.youtube.com/c/GoetheInstitutBelgrad

21:15 Apero

November 17, 2023, Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade (on site)
 
09:30–09:45 Welcome by Lidija Merenik, Head of the Art History Department
 
09:45–10:00 Introduction Ana Ereš and Ursula Ströbele
 
10:00–10:45 Burcu Dogramaci (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich): A Carrier Bag for Sculpting: Human–Non-human Relationships in Objects of Surrealist Female Artists
 
10:45–11:30 Marta Smolińska (Magdalena Abakanowicz University of Arts in Poznan): The sense of touch as a figure of emancipation: haptics in the expanded field in the works of Polish female artists after 1945
 
11:30–12:00 Coffee break
 
12:00–12:45 Ursula Ströbele (Braunschweig University of Art): Elasticity and Resistance? Textile Sculptures and the Queer[y]ing of the Canon
 
12:45–14:30 Lunch Break
 
14:30–15:15 Ana Ereš (University of Belgrade): Sculptrices as Agents of Abstraction in Post-WW2 Art in Serbia
 
15:15–16:00 Simona Čupić (University of Belgrade): Goldfinger: Alina Szapocznikow & James Bond
 
16:00–16:45 Jasmina Čubrilo (University of Belgrade): Ana Bešlić goes Pop
 
16:45–17:15 Coffee break
 
18:30 Closing Keynote Lecture by Jo Applin (The Courtauld Institute of Art, London): Abstract Erotic: Alice Adams, Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse
 

Adress:
Conference Hall "Dragoslav Srejović" (1st floor, room 108)
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy
Čika Ljubina 18-20
Belgrade 11000

Contact persons:
ursula.stroebelehbk-bs.de
ana.eresf.bg.ac.rs