Objects record their material pasts: A medieval manuscript’s parchment pages, for instance, retain traces of animal bodies and thus reflect their physical source. Similarly, varying states of silver corrosion and shades of gold could have reminded its readers that metallic colours were produced from differently sourced and alloyed metals. Illuminations with rare pigments, such as lapis-lazuli, could transport connotations of precious foreignness and geographical expanse, while a so-called toadstone placed on a book cover may have evoked a legendary origin, such as described in the Hortus sanitatis.
This international conference aims to discuss how medieval objects and materials “remember” their origins. Taking inspiration from the methods of modern-day provenance research as well as embracing multiple perspectives on resource extraction and variable object narratives, we propose to investigate how the prehistories of an object’s components continue to reverberate within the artefact. What role does the memory of a sometimes extraordinary or mythic origin play in endowing artefacts with particular significance? And extending the scope of provenance research to material narratives: To what extent does matter participate in processes of remembering – and, conversely, also in forgetting or actively covering up – provenance? Does matter-based memory rather emerge as a “side-effect” from a substance’s properties, or could it also be actively anticipated through techniques of manufacture?
For additional information, visit: https://www.tu.berlin/kunstgeschichte/forschung/konferenzen-und-workshops/material-memory-and-the-provenances-of-medieval-artefacts
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