Advertisement
Event DetailsInternational Conference
Inquiries into the Image: Art History, Visual Studies, Bildwissenschaft
When:
Saturday, November 14, 2026 | 09:30 – 20:00
Where:
Alba Ground Floor Amphitheater, Alba Graduate Business School, The American College of Greece | 6-8 Xenias Street, Athens, Greece
Organized by:
Frances Rich School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Deree–The American College of Greece
Visual Culture and Curating Lab, University of Thessaly
Semiotics Laboratory-SemioLab, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Emmanuel Alloa
Professor of Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art at the University of Fribourg
About the conference:
Recent debates in image theory and the historiography of art history point to a growing awareness of the disciplinary, epistemological, and institutional forces that shape the study of the visual. Art History, considered the founding discipline of image study, is thought to have been challenged and expanded by Visual Studies in the Anglophone cultural sphere and by Bildwissenschaft in the German-speaking world. Theoretical discussion has focused on the nature of these new directions, and more specifically their departure from art history. Anglophone Visual Studies are thought to constitute a decisive break from traditional Art History, while German Bildwissenschaft is thought to represent an autonomous or competing response. As hierarchies and narratives of disciplinary supersession or canonicity are being created, all three discourses continue to co-exist, however, as an integral part of the image theory continuum.
This conference proposes a reevaluation of the above dominant narrative, through the acknowledgement of the current synchronicity of these discourses. Rather than focusing on rupture, replacement, or competition, it identifies a need to explore their conceptual entanglements, methodological affinities, and shared inter- and transdisciplinary horizons. It seeks to situate these fields within broader histories of institutional formation, new research practices, academic knowledge production, and the evolving status of the image.
The conference is open to the public.
Read the program and register here: https://www.acg.edu/events/inquiries-into-the-image-international-conference/
Advertisement
Event venue
Alba Ground Floor Amphitheater, Alba Graduate Business School, The American College of Greece | 6-8 Xenias Street, Athens, Greece
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.