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Winter School Provenance Research, Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, Munich, 22-26 February 2016

Events and Conferences
International Conferences
The programme of the Winter School has now been published. There will be four evening lectures open to the public; Tuesday 23rd February will provide an open day 'showcase' of the School; and the rest of the sessions will be in a closed workshop only for the 20 selected participants in the School. 

The four evening lectures at the ZIKG feature the following talks:

22 February 18.15-20.00: Professor Dr Catherine Mackenzie 'On the Importance of Teaching Provenance Studies: the Life Stories of Objects and Social Justice'

When an art historian publishes a photograph of an artwork identified as being from a “private collection,” he or she cuts off the object from its provenance - its life story, its movement in time through various contexts, through various hands. This same wounding takes place when a curator gives minimal information on a museum label or an auction house provides a generic listing of previous owners, with empty phrases like “by descent from previous owner” being deployed as if they had meaning. The perceived value of establishing provenance, once considered a vital although time consuming part of the craft of art connoisseurship, began to wane in the last quarter of the twentieth century, ironically at a time when it was very much needed to address the continuing circulation of art looted during the Holocaust. Based on her experiences in the university classroom, the speaker will discuss the challenges of reintroducing provenance studies into the education of art historians, challenges that do not, as is sometimes assumed, revolve around student resistance to precise, demanding work but rather point to reluctances in other zones of the art world.

http://www.zikg.eu/veranstaltungen/2016/vortrag-catherine-mackenzie

23 February 17.00-19.00: Professor Dr Barbara Murovec 'Provenance Research Issues and Challenges in Central Europe / Slovenia

Zwischen den 1930er und 1950er Jahren fanden in Slowenien – ähnlich wie in vielen anderen Ländern Mittel- und (Süd-)Osteuropas – gewaltige Translokationen/Transfers von Kulturgut und Kunstwerken statt. Diese Verlagerungen und Besitzwechsel waren bedingt durch Kriege, Politik und Ideologie (etwa im Sinne des Klassen- und Parteienkampfes), aber auch durch Vorstellungen nationaler kultureller Identität.

Der Vortrag analysiert zwei Fallbeispiele, den Transfer von Kunstwerken aus Istrien im Jahr 1944 und die Beschlagnahme der Sammlungen von Adeligen und Aristokraten nach 1945. Hinsichtlich der Themen und Fragen der Provenienzforschung stellt das Verhalten des Staates nach 1991 eine besondere Herausforderung dar, weil mit dem Zerfall Jugoslawiens auch das politische System und der Umgang mit Privateigentum geändert werden sollte. (Kunsthistorische) Provenienzforschung ist ohne die Kenntnis dieser politischen Geschichte und ihrer Implikationen für die Gegenwart kaum möglich.

The paper explores specific historic conflicts of ownership, patrimony and cultural heritage. Despite its regional focus, the speaker examines the very concrete and material results of a genuinely European history of transfer, translocation, displacement, confiscation, looting and theft of cultural objects. Who transferred or translocated which objects in Slovenia, when and why? Which explanations (if any) were – and are – given? Which narratives ensued, and why? How do archival documents (from the region and beyond, produced by victims, perpetrators and the complicit actors in the grey zone between) help to understand these dispossessions? It goes without saying that many of these issues have been heavily charged by propaganda for political purposes.

http://www.zikg.eu/veranstaltungen/2016/vortrag-barbara-murovec

24 February 18.15-20.00: Dr Ulf Bischof 'Beschlagnahmt und exportiert – Abhandengekommene Kunst nach 1945'

Mit der Teilung 1945, der Besatzung durch die SMAD und Gründung der DDR 1949 begann ein neues Kapitel der Kunstentziehungen im Osten Deutschlands. Dabei ging es in der Zeit bis 1989 in unterschiedlichen Ausprägungen im Wesentlichen darum, mit der Überführung von Kunstgegenständen aus Privat- in staatlichen Besitz und deren anschließendem Export, Devisen für die Machthaber in Ost-Berlin zu beschaffen. Die reguläre Planwirtschaft war dazu nur unzureichend im Stande. Das Unrecht, das den Sammlern dabei widerfuhr, war in Qualität und Quantität ein anderes als in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus. Den Betroffenen, vor allem in den 1970er und 80er Jahren, zeigte sich aber auch die DDR als rücksichtslose Diktatur, die mit skrupellosen Methoden ihre Ziele verfolgte. Möglich waren diese geheimen Kunstexporte nur, weil sich in Westeuropa und Übersee willige Abnehmer fanden, die sich von Profitinteressen geleitet nicht an der zweifelhaften Provenienz der Objekte störten. Zunehmend rückt auch dieses dunkle Kapitel deutscher Kulturgeschichte in den Fokus von Forschung und Öffentlichkeit.

http://www.zikg.eu/veranstaltungen/2016/vortrag-ulf-bischof

25 February 19.00-20.30: Dr Hanns Christian Löhr 'Neue Forschungen zum Sonderauftrag Linz. Raubkunst im Geflecht des polykratischen Staates'

Unter den verschiedenen Raubkunstorganisationen des 3. Reiches nimmt der „Sonderauftrag Linz“ eine besondere Stellung ein. Er gilt als bevorzugtes Projekt, mit dem Hitler seine Ziele auf dem Gebiet der Museen durchsetzen wollte. Der Sonderauftrag stand jedoch in der Konkurrenz mit anderen Institutionen. 1944 verlor er den Machtkampf gegen den Einsatzstab des Reichsleiters Rosenberg.

http://www.zikg.eu/veranstaltungen/2016/vortrag-hanns-christian-loehr


Open day 23 February

This will provide the following events:

9.00-9.20: Felicity Bodenstein, Paris: 'Narrating Provenance – Royal Objects from Benin City in European Museums'

9.20-9.40: Sheila Heidt, Köln: 'African art of colonial background in German museums - State of provenance research and possible solutions for restitution procedures'

9.40-10.45: PUBLIC DISCUSSION 'Lessons to be learned from provenance research on African Objects', with Kerstin Pinther (LMU), Philippe Cordez (LMU), and Stefan Eisenhofer and/or Hilke Thode-Arora (Museum Fünf Kontinente, München)

14.40-15.00: Iris Lauterbach (ZI): 'The Central Collecting Point Munich: A short history'

15.00-15.20: Diskussion

15.20-15.40: Mary-Ann Middelkoop, Cambridge: 'Porcelain 1933-1949'

15.40-16.30: PUBLIC DISCUSSION on researching porcelain, applied arts, arts & crafts, and “low” cultural assets, and on the advantages & shortcomings of databases, with Leonhard Weidinger, MAK Wien


The background to the Winter School as originally published is set out below:

Call for Applications (Attendance with/without Travel Fellowship). Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte (ZI) / Institut für Kunstgeschichte der LMU München (LMU) / „Forschungsverbund Provenienzforschung Bayern” (FPB)

During the last few years, provenance research – as a set of very specific questions – has developed rapidly. A growing number of research projects in museums attest to an increase in awareness. The Centre for Cultural Losses (DZK) in Magdeburg has been established. The number of conferences and publications is ever-growing. In contrast to this process of institutionalization, university curricula and course syllabi only very rarely focus on issues of provenance research. Nonetheless, in the framework of academic qualification processes from Bachelor to Master and beyond, a young generation (predominantly art historians), eager – and able – to advance knowledge, is producing often remarkable studies that investigate particular dealers, collectors and collections, dispossessions and translocations, acquisition and restitution policies and politics, professional biographies and trajectories, looting and marketing strategies, and the like.

This situation is the Winter School’s point of departure. Explicitly designed as a platform for national and international exchange, the main idea is to provide a forum for the presentation of recent, ongoing, and planned studies and projects, and to solicit mutual feedback. Hence, participants will be expected to offer a 15-minute talk on their current research interests during the winter school. A number of experienced national and international experts will be present to consult and to offer guidance. Notwithstanding two or three joint visits to museums, the general character is that of an intense seminar or workshop.

The Winter School takes place at the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, starting on Monday, Feb. 22, at 11 am, and ending on Friday, Feb. 26, at 3 pm. On Wednesday afternoon, all participants may pursue individual research in libraries, archives, and collections in Munich, if they wish to do so. Attendance is free of charge, but limited to 20 persons. Throughout the Winter School, discussions will be held in German, English, French, and perhaps Italian – translations are not provided. International applications are most welcome.

In order to participate, an informal application must be sent to fellowships@zikg.eu by noon on Monday, November 16, 2015. The minimum qualification is a BA degree. Please attach one document (one single PDF) to an E-mail that comprises:
1.) Letter of Intent stating why the applicant believes that she or he may benefit from the winter school,
2.) short CV, and
3.) a description of the applicant’s previous and current research experiences in the field. Applications, not to exceed 3 pages in length, will be accepted in English, German, French, and Italian; those in German, French, and Italian should add an English abstract of the application of no more than one page (thus one PDF of 4 pages total).

Please indicate whether the application is for attendance only, or for attendance with travel fellowship.

Based on the topic, the specific research area, the overall quality of the work and notably the need for financial assistance, 6 travel fellowships of 500,- Euro each will be awarded. This lump sum is intended to contribute to the costs of travel, accommodation, and meals during the workshop. As a rule, all participants are requested to make travel arrangements to Munich on their own, and to cover the costs of their stay themselves.

All applications will be evaluated by a small committee of the conveners (ZI, LMU, FPB). Decisions will be reached in December 2015.

Questions and inquiries regarding the Winter School may be sent to PD Dr. Christian Fuhrmeister: c.fuhrmeister@zikg.eu.

For further information about the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte and its extensive range of art historical and research resources, see https://www.lootedart.com/RIQBFA978791

Sources:
http://www.zikg.eu/aktuelles/nachrichten/call-for-applications-winter-school-provenance-research
accessed 30 October 2015
Correspondence with the ZIKG, 28 January 2015

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