Enfilade

From H-ArtHist:

Musical Theatre and Space: Early Modern European Courts
Gotha, Friedenstein Castle, 27–29 October 2016

Proposals due by 15 September 2015

International Colloquium of the Rudolstädter Arbeitskreis zur Residenzkultur e.V., the Institut für Musikwissenschaft of the Universität des Saarlandes, the Institut für Kunstgeschichte of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and the Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein Gotha

The union of the arts in the Gesamtkunstwerk (‘total work of art’) of court opera has been repeatedly studied by diverging approaches of musical history research. However, although a wide range of different arts were involved in the realization of music-theatrical spectacles, still an interdisciplinary approach seems to be pursued rather hesitantly. Thus, for example, particular spatial-architectural aspects of court opera scarcely have been taken into account. Yet, music theater connotes scenic performance and architecture alike. Both constituted essential elements of aristocratic representation in the 17th and 18th centuries. Just as castles and palaces, the European nobility used operas and ballets as core media for the staging and representation of dynasty and person. In the Old Empire not only the imperial estate nobility initiated music-theatrical spectacles, but also lesser courts arranged ballets and operas according to their potentials. Even in the urban space opera-houses sporadically became installed, maintained by the aristocracy.

Hence, from a European perspective the colloquium shall focus upon the varied connections and interplays which existed between musical theatre and the court and its space in the narrow and broader sense. Mainly, scenic performance and architectural space are to be scrutinized. In this context the mutual relations between different forms of musical theatre, architecture, venue and stage are to be considered. In what ways and by what means a special ‘performance space’ became produced by the means of music, sound, language and movement (dance, facial expression and gesture), of architecture, picture and sculpture as well as light and technology? Which specific and corresponding spaces at court became created or converted, and which were the traditions being used? Within the scope of these issues, it is a significant question, to what extent the site of the spectacle on the one and the music-theatrical work of art on the other hand presupposed each other. To this effect the characteristics of Italian, French or Swedish musical theatre shall experience consideration in equal measure; terms of transfer and networks as well as the formation and development of certain types and models are to be analyzed. Against this background, it has to reconsidered, whether and to what extent at the courts there developed European standards, and whether these can be estimated to stand in accordance to the common national characteristics of ‘Italian’ and ‘French’. Furthermore, there shall be examined the recipients, the transfer in different social realms, the influence and participation of the court in the artistic realization, and finally the personal limits, which certainly existed.

As a vital point of all these thematic approaches it should be stressed, that the focus lies exclusively on the contexts of courts. Above all, the colloquium shall broach the genuine court conditions and shapes of performance and staging as they were implemented, understood and utilized by the European nobility only. Therefore, a core issue is posed by the problem of precise distinction, both socially and aesthetically, of the phenomena musical theatre and ‘court space’.

With the focus on court culture, we would be happy to receive contributions, preferably with an interdisciplinary approach, to the following range of topics:
• Court, opera and architecture as means of princely self-representation
• The ruler’s presence in the stage area
• Court venues and stage areas
• Music-theatrical staging within and beyond the stage area
• Stage technique, stage light, scenery and acoustics
• Motion in the stage area (stage dance, facial play, gesture)
• Forms, characteristics and sites of performance in comparison
• Different norms and practices at European courts
• The court audience
We encourage you to suggest also alternative topics. Please send an accordant proposal for presentation. The colloquium will take place subject to the acquisition or allocation of funds. A publication of the contributions is planned. We ask for proposals for the colloquium until 15th September 2015.

Dr. Heiko Laß: heiko.lass@kunstgeschichte.uni-muenchen.de
Dr. Margret Scharrer: m.scharrer@mx.uni-saarland.de

From the University of Kent:

Writing Buildings
University of Kent, 14–16 July 2016

Proposals due by 30 September 2015

CREAte, the research centre for architecture and the humanities at the Kent School of University, University of Kent, is holding a conference in collaboration with The Architectural Review which will bring together quite different traditions of writing about historic buildings. The special character of this conference is that speakers will be drawn from both academic and non-academic fields, and from a range of disciplines that touch on architectural experience and history. In this way we aim to offer a new experience for writers on architecture, interior design and urban space. We are inviting papers from those in architecture, English, history, sociology, film and drama, landscape studies and related disciplines with a specialist interest in writing about buildings and urban spaces or experiences across different time periods. The common theme of the papers will be the uses of a variety of voices in creating architecture culture.

Writing Buildings will be a two-day conference on the subject of alternative ways of writing architectural history which will encourage experimentation in criticism through breaking disciplinary barriers. The programme will include papers from both academic disciplines and non-academic professions which engage with the built environment, for example, journalism, interior design and construction, as our keynote speakers demonstrate:
Iain Sinclair / Writer
Matthew Beaumont, UCL / Psychogeographer
Jonathan Meades / Writer and Film Maker
Alexandra Harris, University of Liverpool / Cultural Historian
Barbara Penner, Bartlett, UCL / Material Anthropologist
Jonathan Reed / Interior Designer
Ben Campkin, Bartlett, UCL / Urban Geographer
Ian Dungavell / former director, the Victorian Society

We will organise at least one project-based writing event outside the conference hall. We are currently planning to hold this in collaboration with Turner Contemporary as part of their innovative Waste Land project. We will update news about the conference, including information about events, talks and activities on this website.

Both previous CREAte conferences have resulted in edited books by leading international academic publishers and we anticipate that this will happen again this time. In addition, the widely read and respected international journal The Architectural Review will promote the conference and intends to publish papers from it.

Email your abstract of approximately 250 words to WritingBuildings@kent.ac.uk by 30 September 2015. Notification of acceptance of papers by 31 January 2015.

Conference Directors
Timothy Brittain-Catlin, Kent School of Architecture, University of Kent, tjb33@kent.ac.uk
Catherine Richardson, School of English, University of Kent, c.t.richardson@kent.ac.uk
Tom Wilkinson, History Editor, The Architectural Review