Cambridge Courtauld Russian Art Centre launches newsletter

The Cambridge Courtauld Russian Art Centre has sent out the first edition of its newsletter. Full text below:


Dear All, 


This is the inaugural issue of the Cambridge Courtauld Russian Art Centre (CCRAC) newsletter, which in its first appearance would like to explain the aims of this new project, and to present a list of forthcoming events which are organised by CCRAC. 


The Cambridge Courtauld Russian Art Centre (CCRAC) is a joint initiative between the Department of History of Art, University of Cambridge, and The Courtauld Institute of Art, London, to provide a forum for the investigation of Russian and Soviet art. Arising from significant research over many years among faculty and graduate students in both institutions, it aims to stimulate debate, support collaborative work, and generate and disseminate research on all aspects of the visual arts, architecture, design, and exhibitions in Russia and the Soviet Union.


The University of Cambridge and The Courtauld Institute of Art have both pioneered undergraduate and graduate teaching in these areas. Members of staff have also been involved in many ventures to take the study of Russian art and architecture further afield, through exhibitions, museum displays, work with schools, and the broadcast media. CCRAC builds on this expertise to provide a new focus for the investigation of Russian art, taking research and interest to a new level, while at the same time creating a dynamic interface between cutting-edge research and the subject's growing audiences outside academia.


Further to the list of forthcoming events listed below, please find attached a call for papers for the next CCRAC conference ‘On the Spiritual in Russian Art’ which will be held in Cambridge on 7 Spetember 2012. Abstracts should be sent to Louise Hardiman (lah45@cam.ac.uk) and Nicola Kozicharow (nlek2@cam.ac.uk) by 15 April 2012. 


Forthcoming CCRAC events:
1 May 2012, 14:00-17:00
Location: Research Forum, The Courtauld Institute of Art
Discussion panel with Professor Jean-Louis Cohen (Institute of Fine Arts, New York University) on the subject of ‘Americanizm in Soviet Architecture’. 
Organised by Dr Maria Mileeva
                       
7 September 2012
Location: Pembroke College, University of Cambridge
Conference ‘On the Spiritual in Russian Art’
Organised by Louise Hardiman (University of Cambridge) and Nicky Kozicharow (University of Cambridge) 


20 - 21 September 2012
Location: The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH), Pembroke College, and the University Library, University of Cambridge 
Conference ‘Design without Frontiers: Interdisciplinarity and Collaboration in Soviet Art, Architecture and Design’
Organised by Dr Rosalind P Blakesley (University of Cambridge), Dr Emma Widdis (University of Cambridge) and Mel Bach (Cambridge University Library)


2 - 3 November 2012 
Location: Kenneth Clarke Lecture Theatre, The Courtauld Institute of Art
Conference 'Russian Culture in Exile. 1921-1953'
Organised by Dr Natalia Murray (The Courtauld Institute of Art) and Dr Maria Kokkori (The Art Institute of Chicago)


22 - 23 February 2013  
Location: Kenneth Clarke Lecture Theatre, The Courtauld Institute of Art
Conference ‘Utopia III: Russian Art and Culture, 1989 and Beyond’
Organised by Dr Klara Kemp-Welch (The Courtauld Institute of Art) and Elizaveta Butakova (The Courtauld Institute of Art)


For further information on any of these activities, or on past events, please visit the CCRAC website at: 
www.ccrac.org.uk


For any enquiries about past or future CCRAC events please contact: 
enquiries@ccrac.org.uk


CCRAC policy on future events:
CCRAC aims to facilitate, encourage and collaborate in promoting the study of Russian and/or Soviet art and culture, through conferences and comparable activities. While CCRAC actively welcomes suggestions and proposals in relation to this aim, no projects can be presented under the heading, name, or logo of the Cambridge Courtauld Russian Art Centre (CCRAC) without written permission from the co-directors in Cambridge University and/or the Courtauld Institute of Art. Proposals to CCRAC will be considered in relation to location, timing, and funding, as well as balance of interests and organisational responsibility in any collaboration.


Directors:
Dr Rosalind Polly Blakesley (rpg27@cam.ac.uk)
Pembroke College
Cambridge CB2 1RF


Professor John Milner (john.milner@courtauld.ac.uk)
The Courtauld Institute of Art
Somerset House
Strand
London WC2R 0RN


Administrator:
Dr Maria Mileeva (maria.mileeva@courtauld.ac.uk)
Department of History of Art
University of Cambridge
1 Scroope Terrace
Cambridge
CB2 1PX

CONF: Design without Frontiers: Interdisciplinarity & Collaboration in Soviet Art, Architecture & Design at Cambridge Uni, 20-21 Sept

Design without Frontiers: Interdisciplinarity and Collaboration in Soviet Art, Architecture and Design

Thursday, 20 September 2012 to Friday, 21 September 2012
Location: CRASSH and Cambridge University Library

Conveners

Dr Rosalind P Blakesley (History of Art/Pembroke College)
Dr Emma Widdis (Slavonic Studies/Trinity College)
Mel Bach (Cambridge University Library)

Conference Summary

Creative practice in Soviet Russia was marked by unprecedented emphasis on collaborative endeavour, reaching across disciplinary boundaries. Architects, poets, painters and designers were united in formal and informal collaborative networks, leading to innovative design collectives, and to a unique erosion of any lasting divisions between architectural, graphic, textile, theatre, and urban design. This conference - a collaboration between Cambridge University Library and the departments of History of Art and Slavonic Studies - will investigate the roots and legacies of these collaborative networks in order to shed light on the circulations, interconnections, and dialogue between different designers and modes of design. This is a vital part of the history of the Soviet avant-garde, and of its legacy; it has the potential to offer new perspectives on the history of 20th-century design.

The conference complements a major exhibition at Cambridge University Library of items from the Catherine Cooke Collection, a world-class assemblage of books, periodicals, posters, plans, photographs, and ephemera relating to Russian and Soviet art, architecture, urban planning, and design. With presentations on individual items in the Cooke collection, as well as papers from an international and interdisciplinary line-up of speakers, it will explore the actual conditions that created and supported collaboration by looking back to the Silver Age and forward to the late Soviet and post-Soviet period, as well as re-examining the Soviet avant-garde. 

Please note:  Speakers for the conference will be invited, so there is no call for papers.

Sponsors

 
The conveners are grateful for the support of The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) and Pembroke College, University of Cambridge.

For further information please see:
http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/1683/

Cambridge Courtauld Russian Art Centre (CCRAC) wins research grant

The Cambridge Courtauld Russian Art Centre (CCRAC) – a joint initiative devised by Dr Rosalind P. Blakesley of the Department of History of Art, Cambridge, and Professor John Milner of The Courtauld Institute of Art, London – was launched in May 2011 to provide a forum for the investigation of Russian and Soviet art. Arising from significant research over many years among faculty and graduate students in both institutions, CCRAC aims to stimulate debate, support collaborative work, and generate and disseminate research on all aspects of the visual arts, architecture, design, and exhibitions in Russia and the Soviet Union.


The project was recently awarded a grant from the Cambridge Humanities Research Grants Scheme to enable Dr Blakesley to employ a Research Associate to work with her on CCRAC related activities for the first six months of 2012.


The CCRAC website is currently under development, but forthcoming events include:
 1. Dr Blakesley’s lecture Painting St Petersburg. The Birth of a National School of Art, Wednesday 9 November 2011, 7.30pm, at Pushkin House, London.
For further information and booking details, please see:
http://www.pushkinhouse.org/en/events/?c=TEN-CENTURIES-OF-RUSSIAN-ART-IN-SEARCH-OF-IDENTITY


2.The conference UTOPIA I: Russian Art and Culture in 1930-1989, which will take place at The Courtauld Institute of Art on Friday 25 November 2011 and Saturday 26 November 2011 (Kenneth Clark Lecture Theatre).
For further information and booking details, please see:
 http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/researchforum/events/2011/summer/may21_Utopia1conf.shtml


3. The Conference Design without Frontiers: Interdisciplinarity and Collaboration in Soviet Art, Architecture and Design, which will take place at the University of Cambridge on thursday 20th September 2012 and friday 21st September 2012.
For further information please see:
http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/1683/


For further information on CCRAC, please contact either of its co-directors at:
Dr Rosalind P. Blakesley ‎[rpg27@cam.ac.uk]‎
Prof John Milner [john.milner@courtauld.ac.uk]
http://www.hoart.cam.ac.uk/research/cracc

Utopia II conference speakers announced

The Courtauld Institute of Art has announced the line up for the Utopia II conference to take place on 25-26th November. Following in the footsteps of the conference Utopia I: Russian Art and Culture in 1900-1930 – held at The Courtauld Institute of Art in May 2011 - UTOPIA II is designed as a chronological extension of the themes and topics raised by the notion of utopia as a specifically Russian construct. 


The period covered in the papers of the conference - from 1930s until 1989 - will span the final half-century of the Soviet regime. Intended as a broad interdisciplinary project, the conference will investigate Soviet notions of utopia and dystopia, through social, artistic, literary and ideological intersections. 


Potential subjects to be examined in the context of Utopia in Russian art and culture include: philosophy, painting, architecture, town planning, theatre, music, literature, and cinema.

The two day conference is organised by the Cambridge Courtauld Russian Art Centre (CCRAC) and coincides with the exhibition at the Royal Academy 'Building the Revolution: Soviet Art and Architecture 1915–1935'. Following the conference on Saturday, the Royal Academy will host a special reception that will allow everyone from the conference to see the show.

Distinguished speakers include: John Milner (Courtauld Institute of Art), Christina Lodder (University of Edinburgh), John Bowlt (University of Southern California), Maria Tsantsanoglou (State Museum of Contemporary Art- The George Costakis Collection), Richard Pare (photographer, curator), Birgit Beumers (University of Bristol), Mike O'Mahony (University of Bristol), Maria Mileeva (Courtauld Institute of Art), Maria Kokkori (Courtauld Institute of Art), Maria Starkova (Courtauld Insitute of Art) and Sarah Wilson (Courtauld Institute of Art).

For the conference programme see: 
http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/researchforum/events/2011/autumn/documents/UTOPIAIIconf25-26oct11-posterprog.pdf

Call for posters: BASEES conference in Cambridge, 2012

Next year's annual conference of the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies, held in Cambridge from Saturday 31st March-Monday 2nd April 2012, will offer postgraduate students in the humanities and the social sciences related to the former Soviet Union and the countries of Eastern Europe the opportunity to present posters on their research project to an international audience of more than 300 scholars in the field. 


The poster will be displayed throughout the conference and can also be uploaded to the BASEES website afterwards. Don't miss this chance to chat with scholars about your research in a friendly and informal atmosphere, get early feedback on your work, make helpful contacts and get tips on archival sources.

If you are interested in presenting a poster, please contact the BASEES postgraduate
representative, Dr Matthias Neumann on m.neumann@uea.ac.uk or the postgraduate
students' representative, Andy Willimott on a.willimott@uea.ac.uk.



Call for Postgraduate Posters BASEES Annual Conference, Fitzwilliam College,
Cambridge, 2012:
http://www.basees.org.uk/conference.shtml

Courtauld to host Russian art conference 'UTOPIA II' 1930-1989

The 'Utopia II' conference is being organised by the Cambridge Courtauld Russian Art Centre (CCRAC) and coincides with the exhibition at the Royal Academy 'Building the Revolution: Soviet Art and Architecture 1915-1935'. The conference will take place on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 November 2011 in the Kenneth Clark Lecture Theatre at The Courtauld Institute of Art. This event is being organised by Professor John Milner and Drs Maria Kokkori and Maria Mileeva.


The utopian intellectual tradition has a long history that some trace back to Plato’s Republic, even though most scholars consider Thomas More’s Utopia as the definitive starting point of modern utopian thought in the Western world. Utopia comes from the Greek ου (no) and τóπος (place) and implies both the no place and the (eutopos) good place; the not-yet and the possible, the nothing and the perfection.


Utopias conveyed as a transformation, are entrenched in the culture and time in which they have emerged. Utopia and Utopianism in Russian art and culture vary from concrete images of a better place to abstract notions of a future state of freedom; they also range from spatial to temporal models. Utopian ideas in Russia were defined not as ideas in direct opposition to reality, but as objects of potential historical realisation.


Following the conference on Saturday, the Royal Academy will host a special reception that will allow everyone from the conference to see the show.
http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/researchforum/events/2011/autumn/nov25_UTOPIAII.shtml