The 35th CIHA World Congress presents a unique experiment: for the first time a CIHA congress will take place in two different locations and in two different moments: in Florence, Italy, in September 2019 and in São Paulo, Brazil, in autumn 2020. It is dedicated to the general topic of “Motion” and invites the international community of scholars to discuss fundamental aspects of art and architecture under this heading in a broad transcultural perspective, from earliest times to the present. The Congress is conceived as a strong collaboration between the two national CIHA committees, who are responsible for their respective venues and will also create formats for a dialogue between the two events such as joint sessions in each place. The venues focus on two major, though not mutually exclusive, aspects of Motion: Transformation in Florence and Migrations in São Paulo. The two committees are pleased to announce this intense collaboration, and are looking forward to an extraordinary transcontinental debate about the most challenging concerns of art history and related fields today.

The first part of the congress, organised by CIHA Italia in collaboration with the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz-Max-Planck-Institut, will take place in Firenze Fiera(Firenze’s fair district) in the halls of Villa Vittoria able to accomodate almost one thousand expected participants and in some of the city’s most prestigious historical buildings including Palazzo Vecchio.

This event will be held thanks to the contribution of Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, with the support of the Los Angeles Getty Foundation and the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz-Max-Planck-Institut. Furthermore, it’s been acknowledged by the MiBAC (Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali - Ministry of Heritage and Cultural Activities), the City of Firenze, the Metropolitan City, University of Firenze, Firenze’s Chamber of Commerce and Regione Toscana.

The extensive program of the study sessions will include about one hundred and twenty speeches by experts from all over the world. There will be events open to the public and lectiones magistrales, such as the one held by the Indian art history historian Kavita Singh at Palazzo Vecchio as well as visits to major and minor museums and collections throughout Firenze. All itineraries will be linked to the congress, thanks to the special collaboration of the administrations of the various museums and organisations involved.

From a transcultural, interdisciplinary and innovative perspective, the congress to be held in Firenze starts with a reflection addressed to the role of the artist intended as “he who acts and does” because endowed with the divine ability to shape the material and to create new forms, as well as to the nature of the art object in turn endowed with “soul”.

Please visit the 'External Link' below for the conference description, list of sessions & chairs, and registration information.