From the Phoenicians to the Celts: Toward a global art and architectural history of the ancient Mediterranean

Kimberly Cassibry, Wellesley College, Massachusetts, USA kcassibry@wellesley.edu
S. Rebecca Martin, Boston University, Massachusetts, USA srmartin@bu.edu

A transcultural history of art goes beyond the principle of additive extension and looks instead at the transformatory processes that constitute art practice through cultural encounters and relationships, whose traces can be followed back to the beginnings of history.

Taking Monica Juneja’s formulation as a starting point, this session seeks case studies that promise to rewrite the histories of ancient Mediterranean objects and buildings that have languished in disciplinary interstices. Rather than debating what does or does not constitute a history of Egyptian, Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Celtic, or Etruscan art – and rather than simply pointing to interconnections (Mediterraneanisation) and mixtures (hybridity) in an effort to sidestep difficulties of classification – we seek new research that consciously transcends these unnecessarily limiting ethno-cultural categories and national archaeological traditions.

With these transcultural and transnational case studies serving as a foundation, the session will aim to conceptualise core principles and methodologies that might be put into practice in writing new histories and with the particular goal of taking a first step toward establishing an open- access journal of Global Ancient Art History. Ultimately, the session will aim to define the parameters and contributions of a global art history of the ancient Mediterranean.

Deadline for submissions: 6 November 2017

Please email your paper proposals directly to the session convenor(s).

You need to provide a title and abstract (250 words maximum) for a 25-minute paper (unless otherwise specified), your name and institutional affiliation (if any).

Please make sure the title is concise and reflects the contents of the paper because the title is what appears online, in social media and in the printed programme.

You should receive an acknowledgement of receipt of your submission within two weeks.

The ‘Call for Papers’ is now live on the new Association for Art History website www.forarthistory.org.uk the conference information can be found on
http://www.forarthistory.org.uk/our-work/the-annual-conference/