Faber/Vates. Historische en mythologische modellen voor de kunstenaarsrol in de oudheid

What do we mean when we call someone an ‘artist’? There’s something about the word that eludes definition. For besides the skills of a craftsman (faber, in Latin), the artist is supposed to possess a certain indefinable, privileged insight or inspiration that makes him a visionary (vates), a mediator between day-to-day reality and something that transcends it. This highly prestigious image of the artist established itself in the Renaissance and was modelled on the renown and status of artists in Antiquity. However, historical sources make clear that although the products of visual arts held a very important place in Greek and Roman culture, their makers were initially all but highly esteemed. Sculptors and painters were thought of as not much more than menial labourers. In this article, the roots of the image of the artist as vates are traced back to another classical model: that of the divinely inspired poet. It was only when visual arts and literature were merged into one category that the artist could lay claim to a similar status. This link, however, had slumbered in the traditional lore about mythical artists for ages. This paper will inquire further into this historical and mythological material to semantically situate the concept of the inspired artist, and to attempt to describe its role and importance until this day

Kunsten som oplevelse - kunsten som supermarked

Kunsten som oplevelse - kunsten som supermarke

Curated Routes: the notion of routes as a design tool for the conception of urban environments in Belgium

The paper discusses the starting point for the conceptualization of the ‘curated routes’ design tool. By investigating different applications of the design tool, we seek to contribute to the general discussion on the user approach in design theory. The project limits its research to urbanized environments that have been developed in the geographical area of Belgium from the World War II till the current times. In this frame the Horizontal Metropolis is approached as an urbanization concept rather than a definite image. From this point of view a breeding ground for discussion is provided on the spatial patterns and socio-cultural logics that different urban paradigms introduce

Sculptors modelling Antwerp silver

This paper focus on the collaboration between Antwerp sculptors and silversmiths in the 17th century

'Een zekere vergelijking onderling': de kunsttentoonstellingen

Various art exhibitions were organized in the context of the Ghent World Fair (1913), just as for other Fairs since 1855. These were devoted to past and present artworks, from regional, national and international artists. The exhibition ‘Oude Kunst in Vlaanderen’ (Ancient Art in Flanders), in the Museum of Fine Arts, aimed to give an impression of past living conditions and customs in Flanders via the ‘proper’ artistic past, from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century, focusing not on painting but on other artistic disciplines in which Flemish artists and artisans excelled in earlier days, such as sculpture, miniature painting, tapestry, and silversmith’s trade. A somewhat uncommon, transnational geographical scope was chosen, the Scheldt region, which allowed the inclusion of artworks from Northern France. This remarkable regional focus was to stimulate a sense of national unity and to enforce its international recognition. The important French contribution in the Fair was regarded by many, including the organizing committee, as a model to follow. This too was the case for the Exhibition of contemporary Fine Arts in the newly-built Palace of Fine Arts, replacing the annual Salon of that year. This exhibition comprised mainly ‘modern’ (but no modernist) artworks by living artists, both established and upcoming, and featured smaller British, Dutch and ‘international’ divisions. The Belgian section was daringly sober in its presentation, compared to the more ornate French section, that was equally large. Several countries also showed a substantial selection of their decorative arts at the Ghent World Fair. Photography too, for the first time in World Fair history, was assigned a fully-fledged, international ‘art’ exhibition. Painted panorama’s and diorama’s, then again, were popular attractions in various pavilions. This way, in the manifold exhibitions at the Ghent World Fair attention was paid to both the ‘high’ and lower estimated arts, to the regional, national and international, and to past, present and progress in numerous fields of the arts

Nasjonalgalleriets basisutstilling Kunst 1 - om museale tumulter

Basisutstillingen Kunst 1 ved Nasjonalgalleriet i 2005 var i stor grad en tematisk ordnet utstilling og ikke kronologisk ordnet, som tidligere. Dette utløste mye debatt i media. Artikkelen presenterer noen resonnement som kan bidra til å forstå bakgrunnen for konflikten. Debattantenes måte å argumentere på og hva argumentene impliserer av ulike historiesyn blir belyst. Det blir brukt et analytisk skille mellom sentrifugal og sentripetal lesning av kunst. Dette leder til at det avslutningsvis identifiseres en viss interdiskursivitet mellom den klassiske og moderne kunst – forstått som at den eldre kunsten behandles som samtidig