Conference programme 2020

The programme of the 9th International Academic Conference Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art extended over six days, from 26 to 31 October 2020. Sessions were held both in person and online, with all times given in Moscow time.

Days and subject areas

• 26 October: a plenary session shared with the Days of Classical Studies in St Petersburg at the Hermitage Theatre, and the online session The Art of Space;
• 27 October: medieval Russian art, Renaissance art, early modern European art, 20th-century and contemporary art, art theory, and cult and artistic culture;
• 28–29 October: Asian art, Russian art of the 18th and 19th centuries, medieval and Christian art, architectural history and conservation, decorative art, and ancient art;
• 30–31 October: Eastern Christian art, museum studies, curatorial practice and art mediation, interdisciplinary cultural heritage research, and field seminars.

A dedicated strand, Art and Culture of the Middle Ages: Heritage and Perspectives of Comprehension, connected the study of medieval Russian and Christian art with architectural history, conservation, and methods from the natural sciences. Its sessions and seminars were supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project No. 20-012-22040.

Venues and format

The programme included sessions at the State Hermitage Museum, the Institutes of History and Philosophy at Saint Petersburg State University, the Bobrinsky Palace, the Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design, the National Library of Russia, and Arts Square Gallery. Some sessions were entirely online, and public access to the physical venues was restricted under the health measures in force in 2020.

Selected recordings

Recordings of two Russian-language sessions remain publicly available through the St Petersburg Historical Forum channel: Art and Culture of Medieval Russia and Russian Art of the 18th and 19th Centuries.