International Meeting
ARTISTS’ LEGACIES. Preservation, Study, Dissemination, Institutionalisation
14 – 15 May 2020
Fundação Arpad Szenes – Vieira da Silva, Lisbon
Presentation
The treatment of artistic legacies in all its different aspects involves great responsibility. Several players may take part in it: artists, their heirs or legal representatives, galleries, museums, foundations or academic institutions are the main promoters of the preservation, study, dissemination and management of artistic and documentary estates which make it possible to systematically trace the career path of a specific artist.
This issue has been debated in recent years within international organisations such as The Institute for Artists’ Estates (Germany), the Joan Mitchell Foundation / CALL (Creating a Living Legacy) Program (USA), or the Swiss Institute for Art Research (SIK-ISEA) (Switzerland). Their projects problematise some of the aspects related to the management of artistic legacies: mediation with artists or their representatives, legal specificities in the reception and institutionalisation processes of works of art and documents, cataloguing and archiving, creating catalogues raisonnés, and study and dissemination strategies to keep legacies “alive” through academic and curatorial action. In Portugal, the questions related to this issue are part of the everyday work of institutions that have the responsibility to manage artistic legacies in many different ways. Among numerous possible examples, this is the case with Fundação Arpad Szenes-Vieira da Silva (FASVS), Atelier-Museu Júlio Pomar / EGEAC or the recent research projects BAC – Banco de Arte Contemporânea and Laboratório de Artes na Montanha – Graça Morais.
Call for papers
We are inviting the academic and scientific community, as well as artists and professionals from artists’ foundations, museums, and galleries, to submit proposals for a 20-minutes presentation related to the theme. The aim is to share a reflection on active management processes of artists’ legacies in their multiple facets, from the beginning of the 20th century until our days. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
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How do artists wish to be remembered? Artists and the management of their legacy: from intentions to practice. Artists, their heirs / legal representatives, and institutions: collaborations, tensions. The active positioning of artists in planning the future of their estate, and in the processes of studying and exhibiting their own work (artist-as-curator and artist-as-archivist).
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Institutionalisation processes: museums, foundations, artists’ archives. The role of institutions in the preservation, study and dissemination of artists’ legacies. Challenges and strategies in the management of artistic legacies and their mediation with the public.
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Artists’ legacies, art history and art criticism. The safeguarding processes of artists’ legacies and the development of new critical discourses about works, periods and geographies / new processes of revision and historiographic rethinking.
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Documentation centres, archives, catalogues raisonnés. The challenges and possibilities of the digital age in the recording and availability of information processes. Documentation and knowledge: authentication, exhibition, reassembling work
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Legal and juridical aspects. What kind of legal framework is appropriate for these estates? What are the duties and responsibilities of institutions and legal representatives? Should legal representatives intervene – and to what extent – in the study and dissemination of estates?
Instructions for submission
Proposals for a 20-minute presentation (up to 500 words) are welcome. A brief biographical note (up to 150 words), including affiliation and contact information, should be enclosed.
Languages accepted: Portuguese, English, Spanish, or French.
Proposals may be submitted by email to: artistslegacies2020@gmail.com.
Important dates
Deadline for submission of abstracts: 15 December 2019
Deadline for notification of accepted abstracts: 15 February 2020
Registration: 15 March – 30 April 2020
Deadline for submission of the full paper: April 2020
Scientific Committee
Joana Baião (IHA/NOVA FCSH; LAM-GM/CIMO/IPB)
Marina Bairrão Ruivo (FASVS)
Raquel Henriques da Silva (IHA/NOVA FCSH)
Sandra Santos (FASVS)
Sara Antónia Matos (Atelier-Museu Júlio Pomar/EGEAC; BAC project)
Scarlett Reliquet (Musée d’Orsay, Paris)
CFP – Complete version: