Postwar. Art and Architecture

31st Conference of the German-Polish Working Group for Art History and Monument Preservation

October 9–12, 2024

Postwar. Art and Architecture

Conference date:

9–12 October 2024

Venue:

Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw / Muzeum Architektury we Wrocławiu, Bernardyńska 7

Every war was supposed to be the last one. None of them actually was. All of them brought not only suffering and destruction, but also changes unimaginable ahead. Efforts have been made to tame them through new narratives and interpretations, such as historiographical accounts, and to articulate them through various forms of art, including architecture, urban planning, painting, drawing, and graphics.

The following 31st conference of the Polish-German Working Group for Art History and Monument Preservation builds on last year’s discussion on ‘Art and War’. The conference addresses the role of art and architecture in post-war realities, a topic that remains relevant in face of depopulation, loss of heritage, economic crises, changes in social relations, and individual and collective traumas resulting from armed conflicts throughout history. The situation of art is undoubtedly challenging under such circumstances. However, history proves that artistic activity does not come to a complete standstill during or immediately after wars. On the contrary, it often flourishes as a result of wars.

The conference will discuss artistic phenomena that arise in the aftermath of war conflicts in different historical periods, political situations, and geographical contexts. The aim is to consider both the uniqueness and the shared features of these phenomena.

The conference language: English.

The complete programme of the conference you will find HERE

Conference programme:

DAY 1 – 9 October 2024 (Wednesday)

DAY 2 – 10 October 2024 (Thursday)

12:40-13:20 discussion

13:20-14:30 break

Adrianna Brechelke (Poznań University of Technology) - “Ideological and political conditions of post-war urban planning in Kołobrzeg”

Barbara Szczepańska (Museum of Architecture in Wrocław, University of Wrocław) - “The origin of the city. Ostrówek in Opole and its political and identity significance post 1945”

15:20-15:40 discussion

15:40-15:55 short break

Sebastian Bietenhader, Matthias Moroder / Büro Bietenhaden Moroder (Vienna University) - “Emancipatory Architecture of Viennese Public Housing. The Built Re-Evaluation of Red Vienna in the first Decade after World War II”

Fanni Magyaróvári (Hungarian Museum of Architecture and Monument Protection Documentation Center, Budapest) - “Processing trauma and preparing for the new war. Modernism in Hungary through the lifework of architect Zoltán Révész”

Michał Chadera (Museum of Architecure in Wrocław) - “To the queen of Arts a museum in Wrocław” - the origins, vision and the formative years of the Museum of Architecture and Reconstruction’.

17:10-17:40 discussion

DAY 3 – 11 October 2024 (Friday)

10:00-10:30 coffee break

11:45-12:15 discussion

12:15-13:15 break

14:05-14:25 discussion

DAY 4 – 12 October 2024 (Saturday)

Scientific Committee:

Organiser: Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw

Partners: University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Universität zu Köln

The conference is cofunded by Foundation of Polish-German Cooperation.

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