STROMATA: The Carpet as Artifact, Concept and Metaphor in Literature, Science and the Arts

Organized by Vera-Simone Schulz and Gerhard Wolf

Dedicated to the arts and aesthetics of carpets and to the role of the carpet as a concept in science or the history of ideas, the workshop seeks to elucidate different artistic and intellectual approaches towards carpets from Clement of Alexandria's 'Stromateis' to the present. It will highlight the various functions of carpets, which, when put on floors, do not only embellish rooms, but also contribute to the structure of architectural spaces, and which can delineate sacred surfaces and visualize social and political hierarchies. It will address topics such as the materiality of carpets and ornamental structures, the interaction of various media, the carpet as an object and as an item of material culture, their representation in painting, knotting techniques and concepts of the knot, the carpet as a metaphor and as a model for the world, literary accounts of carpets and their transcultural biographies or itineraries. The workshop focuses on issues such as the dimensionality and flatness, repetition, pattern, figuration, and performativity of carpets, as well as on "master piece" discourses, the specific role of the "Oriental" carpet, and on problems of display.

On the one hand, marginalized as belonging to the "minor" or "applied arts", and on the other hand, celebrated as a "paradigm" for modern art, carpets have long been discussed in various discourses, even if in isolation. By bringing together art historians, archaeologists, carpet historians, historians of philosophy, scientists and experts of literary studies, this workshop seeks to open up the field of inquiry and to overcome disciplinary boundaries, to critically reflect on research traditions and to explore new approaches when taking on the challenge of studying carpets in a comprehensive way.

PROGRAM
Monday, November 3, 2014

9:30
Welcome and Introduction
Vera-Simone Schulz and Gerhard Wolf

9:45
Der dekorierte Boden. Zur Konzeption und Funktion römischer Mosaikböden
Susanne Muth (Berlin)

10:30
Spätantike Teppiche aus Ägypten: Technik und Dekor
Cäcilia Fluck (Berlin)

11:15 coffee break

11:45
“To knit the ravelled sleeve of care”: Observations on the Role of Knots in Floor Mosaics, Carpets and Clothing during Late Antiquity
Henry Maguire (London)

12:30
Warum nannte Clemens von Alexandrien sein Hauptwerk “Stromateis”?
Dietmar Wyrwa (Berlin)

13:15 lunch break

15:15
Das Teppichparadigma: Gottfried Semper – Alois Riegl – Henri Matisse
Regine Prange (Frankfurt am Main)

16:00
The Carpet as Cultural Code and Utopian Metaphor
Eva-Maria Troelenberg (Florence)

16:45 coffee break
17:15
Synthesis of Molecular Carpets
Dieter Schlüter (Zurich)

18:00
The Beauty of Repetition: Symmetry and Formation of Patterns from Macro to Nano
Markus Lackinger (Munich)

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

9:30
Fragments: Challenges in Conservation and Display
Anna Beselin (Berlin)

10:15
Yongle to Yongzheng: Imperial Chinese Carpets
Michael Franses (Doha)

11:00 coffee break

Visit of the carpet collection in the Museo Bardini (speakers and moderators only). Guided tour with Alberto Boralevi (Florence)

lunch break

15:00
Tod und Tuch: Grabteppiche
Silke Tammen (Gießen)

15:45
Sacred Surfaces: Carpets, Coverings and Mesas in the Colonial Andes
Elena Phipps (Los Angeles)

16:15 coffee break

16:30
13th- and 14th-Century Anatolian Carpets
Scott Redford (London)

17:15
Problems of Studying Islamic Carpet Production and European Consumer Taste in European Carpet Depictions
Walter Denny (Amherst, Mass.)

18:00 coffee break

18:15
À la recherche du tapis perdu: Artistic and Academic Approaches to Carpets in Paintings
Vera-Simone Schulz (Berlin/Florence)

19:00
Nach Strich und Faden, nach allen Regeln der Kunst: Teppiche in niederländischen Gemälden
Karin Leonhard (Bonn)

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

8:30
Antike Heldenepik im Salon: Napoleon und die Tapisserie
Gisela Schlüter (Erlangen)

9:15
The “Renaissance de la tapisserie” in France (c. 1940-1955): Technique,
Lyricism and Ideology
Merel van Tilburg (Paris)

10:00 coffee break

10:30
Zur Ordnung der Gewebe
Friedrich Teja Bach (Vienna)

11:15
Final Remarks by Gerhard Wolf

15:00
Visit of the Museo del Bargello (speakers and moderators only)

Location:
Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – Max-Planck-Institut
Palazzo Grifoni Budini Gattai
Via dei Servi 51
50122 Florence – Italy

Contact:
Vera-Simone Schulz
(vera-simone.schulzkhi.fi.it)