Hans Belting
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Lecture by internationally acclaimed art historian and theorist, Prof. Dr. Hans Belting
Prof. Dr. Hans Belting is widely considered as one of the top thinkers who contributed to the evolution of conventional art history into a science of visual culture, using interdisciplinary research to bridge different scientific fields (such as anthropology, media theory etc.) and to broaden contemporary research areas. In one of his early books towards this direction, “Likeness and Presence”, Belting focused among others on the relation between Western art history and early Byzantine era, promoting the importance of Greek cultural tradition in understanding contemporary cultural issues and institutions. In 2006, Hans Belting initiated with Peter Weibel the research center GAM – Global Art and the Museum at ZKM – Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe. The center aims at documenting the contested boundaries of today’s art world and sparking a critical debate on how globalization changes the contemporary arts scene. The research generated was recently expressed in the exhibition “The Global Contemporary. Art Worlds After 1989” at ZKM (www.globalartmuseum.de; www.global-contemporary.de). Hans Belting is co-founder of the School for New Media (Hochschule für Gestaltung) in Karlsruhe, Germany (1992), where he was professor of art history and media theory (until 2002). Previously he held chairs of art history at the Universities of Heidelberg and Munich. In the US, he taught as Visiting professor at Harvard University (1984), Columbia University (1989) and North Western (2004). In 2003, he lectured at the Collège de France at Paris and received an honorary degree from the Courtauld Institute, London. From 2004 to 2007, he acted as Director of the “International Center for Cultural Science” (IFK) in Vienna. At present, he is advisor of the project GAM (Global Art and the Museum) at the Center for Art and Media (ZKM), Karlsruhe. He is member of the “American Philosophical Society”, the “American Academy of Arts and Sciences”, the “Medieval Academy of America” and the “Academia Europea”. Among his books, some are available in English such as: “The End of the History of Art?” (Chicago 1987); “Likeness and Presence. A history of images before the era of art” (1994); “The Invisible Masterpiece” (London 2001); “Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights” (New York 2003); “Art History After Modernism” (Chicago 2003); “Thomas Struth: Museum Photographs” (Munich 2006); together with Andrea Buddensieg eds., “The Global Art World. Audiences, Markets, Museums” (Ostfildern 2009); “Looking through Duchamp’s Door” (London 2010); “An Anthropology of Images” (Princeton 2011); “Florence and Bagdad. Renaissance Art and Arab Science” (Harvard Univ. Press 2011). On the occasion of Prof. Dr. Belting’s lecture in Thessaloniki, the public is given the opportunity to get acquainted with his work and relevant issues, as well as to pose questions, through an online platform. |
Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art |