Conference 2016

The 7th International Conference Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art took place in St Petersburg on 11–15 October 2016. It was organised by St Petersburg State University, Lomonosov Moscow State University, and the State Hermitage Museum. The working languages were Russian and English.

Artifact, Art Object, Argument

The conference's central theme was “Artifact, Art Object, Argument: Object in Fine Arts — Objectives, Methods, Results”. Discussion followed the object from its making or discovery to its scholarly description and encounter with the viewer. Participants considered how archaeological and historical contexts shape the understanding of an object, on what grounds an artefact is recognised as a work of art, and how rigorous argument supports attribution, dating, and interpretation.

The chronological range, from the ancient world to the present, brought together art historians, archaeologists, museum professionals, conservators, and philologists. Alongside established historical fields, the programme included art theory, cult and artistic culture, applied art, the museum collection and its spaces, and the panel discussion “Museum: Shaping the Future”.

Sessions were held at the State Hermitage Museum and St Petersburg State University. The conference concluded with guided visits in the Hermitage and field seminars devoted to the monuments of Veliky Novgorod and the palaces and parks of Tsarskoye Selo, Pavlovsk, and Peterhof. The sessions were dedicated to the memory of Valentin Alexandrovich Bulkin.

Conference programme overview

Emblem and publications

Gleb Bogomolov's painting Aegina (2004) was chosen as the conference emblem. Its striking conjunction of gold and blue accompanied the programme and the subsequent volumes of conference papers.

Papers arising from the 7th conference were published in two issues of Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art: Volume 7 (2017) and Volume 8 (2018).