Speakers: Jonathan D. Katz (curator)\, Charlotte Matt er (Laurenz Assistant Professor of Contemporary Art\, University of Basel) \, Len Schaller (assistant curator\, Kunstmuseum Basel)
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20260517T143000 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:news344@eikones.philhist.unibas.ch DTSTAMP;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20260217T133205 DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20260518T100000 SUMMARY:Queer Art History – Methods and Terms DESCRIPTION:Program\\r\\n10 am – 12 pm (Kunstmuseum Basel)Opening input b y Jonathan D. Katz\\r\\nJoint walkthrough of the exhibition The First Homo sexuals and discussion of selected works\\r\\n12 pm – 1.30 pmLunch brea k \\r\\n1.30 pm – 3.30 pm (eikones)Discussion of methods and terms\, ba sed on selected readings from the catalog The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity 1869–1939 (ed. Jonathan D. Katz with Johnny Willis\, New York 2025):\\r\\nJonathan D. Katz\, “Introduction\,” pp. 8–15Do uglas Pretsell\, “The Crucible of Sexual Orientation: Sexual Theories an d Identities in Nineteenth-Century Germany\,” pp. 38–43Catherine Gonna rd and Tirza True Latimer\, “Unbecoming Women: Becoming Lesbians in the Arts\, 1850s–1920s France\,” pp. 80–87Joseph Shaikewitz\, “Inversi ons: Errancy and Abundance in Brazil and the Southern Cone\,” pp. 236– 243\\r\\nLimited number of participants. To register and receive the readi ngs as a PDF\, please write to: charlotte.matter@unibas.ch X-ALT-DESC:Program
\n10 am – 12 pm (Kunstmuseum Basel)
Opening input by Jonathan D. Katz
Jo int walkthrough of the exhibition The First Homosexuals \;and d iscussion of selected works
\n12 pm – 1.30 pm
Lunch break \;
1.30 pm – 3.30 pm (eikones
)
Discussion of methods and terms\, based on selected readings from t
he catalog The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity 1869–19
39 \;(ed. Jonathan D. Katz with Johnny Willis\, New York 2025):
Limited number of participants. To register and receiv e the readings as a PDF\, please write to: charlotte.matter@unibas.ch
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20260518T153000 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:news338@eikones.philhist.unibas.ch DTSTAMP;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20260422T211728 DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260521 SUMMARY:Living Borders DESCRIPTION:This workshop is dedicated to the imaginaries and investigation s of a range of physical demarcations that are\, literally\, borders alive in and of themselves. It addresses borders made from biological material such as skin\, shell\, crust\, membrane\, hide\, bark\, or epidermis\, but also artificially made ‘living’ skins and ecological borders. Bringi ng together knowledge from history and aesthetics\, biology\, ecology and biomedical engineering the workshop interrogates the manifold ways in whic h humans relate to living borders\, it explores forms of imagining\, visua lizing and modeling living borders\, and it strives to develop new ideas a nd practices bridging the science-humanities divide in conceiving of livin g borders as simultaneously scientific and cultural objects of study\, wit h a small accompanying display of exhibits from MicroPop\, an exhibition d eveloped by the Cluster of Excellence Controlling Microbes to Fight Infect ions\, Research Center for Science Communication\, University of Tübingen \, and the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart.\\r\\nProgram X-ALT-DESC:This workshop is dedicated to the imaginaries and investigati
ons of a range of physical demarcations that are\, literally\, borders ali
ve in and of themselves. It addresses borders made from biological materia
l such as skin\, shell\, crust\, membrane\, hide\, bark\, or epidermis\, b
ut also artificially made ‘living’ skins and ecological borders. \
;Bringing together knowledge from history and aesthetics\, biology\, ecolo
gy and biomedical engineering the workshop interrogates the manifold ways
in which humans relate to living borders\, it explores forms of imagining\
, visualizing and modeling living borders\, and it strives to develop new
ideas and practices bridging the science-humanities divide in conceiving o
f living borders as simultaneously scientific and cultural objects of stud
y\, with a small accompanying display of exhibits from MicroPop\, an exhibition developed by the Cluster of Excellence Controlling
Microbes to Fight Infections\, Research Center for Science Communication\,
University of Tübingen\, and the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart.\n\n\n\n
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260523
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:news336@eikones.philhist.unibas.ch
DTSTAMP;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20260303T182941
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20260527T181500
SUMMARY:Media Studies and AI Literacies: Colloquium # 5
DESCRIPTION:In her presentation\, Annet Dekker will examine the sustainabil
ity of archiving and particularly digital preservation through the lens of
relational governance. Drawing on artistic projects\, she will explore ho
w (blockchain) technology may be reimagined beyond extractive logics. Here
\, ownership becomes relational rather than proprietary\, unsettling legal
\, geopolitical\, and economic regimes that treat objects as commodities.
Situating technology within broader ecological and colonial histories\, De
kker proposes a decolonial shift from hierarchical control toward horizont
al\, interdependent systems. Within this framework\, green archiving emerg
es as a way to rethink the environmental impact of cultural heritage pract
ices\, in particular digital preservation\, and to reimagine these within
the context of ecological responsibility. By valuing change\, decay\, and
release\, green archiving aligns digital preservation with relational gove
rnance: sustaining not merely data\, but the networks of care that make cu
ltural memory possible.
X-ALT-DESC: In her presentation\, Annet Dekker will examine the sustainab
ility of archiving and particularly digital preservation through the lens
of relational governance. Drawing on artistic projects\, she will explore
how (blockchain) technology may be reimagined beyond extractive logics. He
re\, ownership becomes relational rather than proprietary\, unsettling leg
al\, geopolitical\, and economic regimes that treat objects as commodities
. Situating technology within broader ecological and colonial histories\,
Dekker proposes a decolonial shift from hierarchical control toward horizo
ntal\, interdependent systems. Within this framework\, green archiving eme
rges as a way to rethink the environmental impact of cultural heritage pra
ctices\, in particular digital preservation\, and to reimagine these withi
n the context of ecological responsibility. By valuing change\, decay\, an
d release\, green archiving aligns digital preservation with relational go
vernance: sustaining not merely data\, but the networks of care that make
cultural memory possible. Conference Programme Friday\
, May 29 \; 17:20–18:20 Saturday\, May 30 09:00–10:00 10:00–11:00 11:00–11:30 11
:30–12:30 12:30–14:00 14:00–15:00 15:00–
16:00 16:00–16:30 16:30–17:30 17:30–18:30 Sunday\, May 31 09:30–10:30 10:30–11:30 11:30–12:10 12:10–13:10 13:10–1
4:40 14:40–15:30 The age of artificial intelligence with its dissemination of
synthetic visual media forces those who are exposed to them to question th
e truth value of the visible. Consequent discussions concerning images and
their authenticity\, authority and potential as frauds are being catalyze
d among regulators\, image theorists\, artists and the general public. Wha
t often goes unnoticed in these deliberations is that similar discussions
were flaring up at different points in the global past\, certainly during
the Western Middle Ages - then\, for example\, debates concerning the real
ity of the sacred presence claimed to be contained in certain material thi
ngs\, were common. At the same time\, visual objects were often forged to
attest to an individual’s or a group’s - not always legitimate - claim
s for privilege. The capacity of an image to be perceived as representing
truth is subject to cultural norms\; medieval and contemporary norms are s
ignificantly different. But much like in our times\, in the Middle Ages th
ose who understood that truths could have predictable visual forms employe
d this knowledge to fabricate images claiming to represent theological\, s
cientific\, legal or historical “facts.” The conference Aesthe
tics of Facts and the Medieval Image is designed as an exploration of both
the conditions due to which certain images claimed their viewer’s trust
\, and their manipulation. We seek to examine approaches to truth in image
s in the pre-photographic\, pre-industrial Middle Ages\, expressed in imag
es\, texts and practices. Nevertheless\, speakers are encouraged to think
with ideas\, questions and terms prompted by the current discourse on AI-g
enerated imagery\, which allow us to rethink medieval evaluations of the
“real” in the visual. The conference will address such questions as: W
hat conditions conferred a factual status upon certain medieval images or
their contents? What about the appearance of such images shaped their effi
cacy\, and perception as sacred images\, material historic or legal eviden
ce\, and other visual embodiments of proclaimed truth? What were the limit
s of the representable in the Middle Ages? And how was the production of i
mages regulated\, given their potential to deceive\, confuse and persuade?
Detailed program to follow.
17:00–17:20
Introduction – Stefanie
Lenk and Martin Schwarz
Sara Lipton \;(New
York)
Lies in the Letters of the Laity: Dangerous Images\, Viciou
s Viewers
Coffee 08:30
\;
Mattia Guidetti (Bologna)
Quest
ioning the Image: “Heresy”\, Prohibition\, and Visual Practices in Ear
ly Islam
Nourane Ben Azzouna (Strasbourg)The Image of Heresy: The Representation of Pre- and Co-Islamic Idol
s in Medieval Islam
Coffee Break
Aila Santi \;(Leiden)
Rethinking Heresy: Fune
rary Architecture beyond the “Orthodox” Paradigm in Early Islam
Lunch Break
Francisco
Prado-Vilar \;(Santiago de Compostela)
Seducing Saints: Heresy
and the Embodiment of Desire on the Iberian Frontier
Stefanie Lenk (Göttingen)
Between Heresy and Lay Deman
ds: Negotiating Images and Material Culture in 13th- Century León
Coffee Break
Jan Malisz
ewski \;(Warsaw)
Viewing the Host\, Seeing the Church: Parisia
n Sacramental Theology around 1200
Martin S
chwarz \;(Basel)
Malefic Images: The 1320 Consultation of Pope
John XXII
Coffee 9:00\n
Oliver Coulson \;(Norwich)
Architect
ure Against Heresy: Norwich’s Urban Stage and the Execution of William W
hite
Amanda Valdés Sánchez \;(Madrid)
“Marian Heretics”: Marian Imagery\, Islamic-Spanish Identity\
, and Inquisitorial Rhetoric in Castile from the Medieval Era to the 1500s
Coffee Break
Ka
térina Horníčková \;(Olomouc)
Eucharistic Heresy: Between
Multiple Interpretations and Confessional Discipline
Lunch Break
Final Discussion – Aden
Kumler (Basel)