EVENT. Symposium: Exploring Sacred Architecture. Current Trends In Art History. Bochum, 13-15 June 2018
Internationales Wissenschaftliches Symposium, Kunstgeschichtliches Institut der Ruhr-Universität Bochum
The purpose of this symposium is to bring recent strands of research into sacred architecture together within comprehensive debate in order to highlight its current standing within art history. By deliberately looking at different epochs, this ‘think tank’ will benefit from the sometimes different questions and methods of analysis employed. Examining sacred architecture will highlight art history’s contribution to the theme of religion, a subject increasingly in the public mind. Discussing the role of architecture appears particularly worthwhile since the potential attributed to it varies enormously, ranging from complete rejection of any significance (as postulated for modern church architecture) through the opinion that churches are ‘places of experience’ to the emotionally charged urban semantics which are frequently the subject of public debate in connection with the construction of mosques and are also addressed by researchers. Given this, the goals of the conference are twofold:
1) To consider recent scholarly aspects and positions in research;
2) To examine the extent to which they are associated with current shifts in the semantic areas of religion and faith. The approach described is intended to highlight the recent achievements of research into sacred architecture (always an important area of art history), identify possible desiderata, and generate new questions.
The full programme of the symposium is available here.