CFP: Questions of Expertise in Culture, Art and Design (Yekaterinburg, 20-22 Oct 2020)

Papers are invited for the II International Conference Questions of Expertise in Culture, Art and Design
Yekaterinburg, Ural Federal University, October 20 – 22, 2020
Deadline: Jun 30, 2020

The conference proposes to discuss the emerging new position of expert assessment within culture, history and design.

During the 2010s, two lines of interpretation have emerged: one strictly specialized (the traditional questions of attribution in art history, or the role of cultural expert assessment in legal setting), the other more general humanistic approach that focuses on the growing importance of the role of an expert within contemporary sociocultural processes. 

What are the limits of professional responsibility and objectivity required from an expert? What is the role of an expert in the capital and in the regions; is there any difference between regional and federal authorities regarding expert participation in decision making? What are the professional requirements for an expert working in the “Instagram world”? These and many other questions are proposed for the conference discussion.

Conference tracks
Section 1. Culture Humanistic knowledge as an expert assessment of sociocultural processes
· The subject and the limits of cultural expert evaluation. · Methods of expert assessment of sociocultural processes · Digital transformation of culture as a challenge for contemporary humanities · The variety of models of contemporary cultural experts (“legislators”, critics, mediators, etc.). · Professional ethics as an object of cultural expert evaluation.

Section 2. Art New approaches to expert assessment as a foundation of new art history?
· Technical, technological, historical and archival aspects of professional evaluation of art objects · Expert assessment and attribution: difference in approaches · Legal questions and risks of expert assessment · Regional collections and their research · Contemporary art: what kind of assessment it requires? · Local expert assessment and global art market · From connoisseur to the expert: changing approaches, technologies and tools

Section 3. Design 21st century design: new goals, new methods, new technologies
· Design as a profession and vocation: markers of professionalism · Aesthetic and stylistic evaluation of design: where are the experts? · Questions of authorship and copyright in design · The role of the designers in social, educational, urban and museum projects · Inclusive design and universal design: evaluation criteria · Virtual and augmented realities as design products · Expert assessment of sustainable design: the challenges of comprehensive evaluation

We invite to participate researchers in art history, cultural studies, design, fashion, as well as postgraduate students and academic scholars. Prospective participants, please submit your application, with an abstract (up to 500 characters) and information about the author, at arthist@urfu.ru.

Application deadline: June 30, 2020.

Letters of acceptance and official invitations will be sent on July 30. Following the conference, selected papers will be published in the conference paper collection indexed in Scopus database.

Yekaterinburg, Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N.Yeltsin 51 Lenina av., Department of Art History, Cultural Studies and Design