The AzLab is a monthly seminar at the Faculdade de Letras, Universidade
de Lisboa. It aims to create new analytical perspectives on issues
related to azulejos, including its research, inventory, collecting,
safeguarding and its creation or dissemination. The special AzLab#14 is
a one-day conference with call for papers.

Frames, whether real or painted, stand for order, frontier, or edge, but
also for articulation and integration. In the case of applied arts such
as the azulejo, painted frames help organise the compositions within
space, both through the delimitation of the tiled surfaces and through
its articulation with the supporting architecture or with other art
forms. Frames are therefore key-elements in the definition of the
decorative systems they are part of.

The purpose of this special AzLab#14 is to present and discuss the
various kinds of frames used throughout the history of the azulejo
manufactured or applied in Portugal, in an attempt to understand how
they came to influence the configuration of the rooms or locations they
were used in. The debate is thus extended to other art forms (woodwork,
painting, sculpture, stucco, brutesco, textiles, and so on), with which
the azulejo interacts. Although the analysis will take into account the
specificity of ceramic frames, it will nonetheless integrate them within
the wider context of visual and architectural decorative devices.

This session will also cover issues related to the cataloguing of frames
and to the definition of the controlled vocabulary lists used to
describe them, part of the general domain of digital heritage
inventories.

The AzLab#14 will be divided into three panels, according to a
chronological sequence beginning with the first examples of the use of
azulejos, in the late 15th century, and ending in the present day.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Azulejo frames
- Decorative systems including azulejos
- Frame inventory and catalogue

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION:
This one-day-conference invites proposals of up to 300 words (in
English) for papers of 20 minutes paper, followed by 15 minutes of
debate. Proposals should be sent to Dr. Maria do Rosário Salema de
Carvalho (ARTIS - Instituto de História da Arte, Faculdade de Letras,
Universidade de Lisboa) at rscarvalholetras.ulisboa.pt until the 15th
March 2015. Please also attach a brief biographical note (maximum 1
page). Selection of proposals will take place until 10th April 2015 and
participants will be informed thereafter. The accepted articles will be
published online on October 2015.