36th congress of the CIHA (Comité International d'Histoire de l’Art)

In June 2024, France will host the largest scientific event in art history worldwide. Held only once every 4 years, the Congress of the Comité International d’Histoire de l’Art will take place at the Lyon Convention Center from June 23rd to 28th, 2024. An interdisciplinary and socially engaged theme has been chosen: Matter, Materiality.

Matter and materiality are of interest in the conception, production, interpretation, and preservation of works of art from all cultures and periods. Materiality results from the effects produced by the properties of matter: texture, surface, weight, spatial extension, format, and gestural traces. It involves processes of material transformation—technical, cultural, and social—that underlie the creation of works of art and define how we perceive and appreciate them.
Exploring the matter and materiality of art leads to questioning economic, environmental, ideological, and aesthetic issues, as well as the transformation of artworks over time and the gestures and labor that shape them.

This theme allows us to question the effects of dematerialization due to digital technology, but also the material dimension of digital technology such as the techniques of rematerialization or perception of materiality. It explores very current questions, in full evolution, and in line with major societal, ecological, and ethical challenges. The congress will address many techniques and categories of material objects, from painting to print, from architectural techniques to the use of waste, from the human body to clothing, and more, as detailed in the online program (in progress): https://openagenda.com/en/ciha-2024

With 93 sessions, roundtables, dialogues and masterclasses, nearly 1,000 participants from more than 70 countries will speak during the congress. There will be a program of plenary conferences with the greatest specialists and world-renowned artists where they will talk about their approach to the subject. Among them are Georges Didi-Hubermann, Finbarr Barry Flood, Tim Ingold, Sheela Gowda, Antoine Picon, Monika Wagner, Mary Watt...The opening lecture will be given by the Nobel Prize in Litterature Orhan Pamuk.

Special evening events will be offered in partnership with museums in and around Lyon. Visits to Lyon's heritage sites and the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region will also be offered on the final day of the congress, Friday, June 28, 2024. Throughout the event, an Art Book Fair will offer the opportunity to meet authors, and French and international publishers.

The CIHA Lyon 2024 Congress is open to anyone interested in art, Art History and cultural heritage.

To register for the congress and benefit from the preferential rate before March 31: https://www.cihalyon2024.fr/en/registration

Contact: CIHA-Lyon-2024cfha-web.fr

The executive Committee
Laurent Baridon, Judith Kagan, France Nerlich, Sophie Raux