2013 Press Releases
War in Visual Arts across five continents
UCC’s School of History and Department of History of Art recently hosted an international conference on representations of war in visual culture, declared a resounding success by close to 100 delegates.
Delegates drawn from leading institutions across the globe presented their work at the conference earlier in September, taking place in the Western Gateway Building and Crawford Art Gallery.
Created by Ann Murray (History of Art) and organised by Murray and Alan Drumm (School of History), the conference was officially opened by Professor Geoffrey Roberts, Head of the School of History. He remarked on the truly international scope of the event, drawing as it did, delegates from across five continents; in uniting the research of university academics, academic staff and archivists working in museums and galleries, former combatants who are now working as researchers, and practising artists.
The conference brought together an impressive array of perspectives on representations of war in visual culture. It was this aspect, according to delegates, that made the event such a success.
The conference is the founding event in the formation of a multidisciplinary, international scholarly community for the subject, and, considering the very significant interest that it has generated, the conference is expected to become a regular event on the academic calendar.
The organisers wish to extend sincere thanks to Prof Geoffrey Roberts, Dr Flavio Boggi, Mr Gabriel Doherty and Dr Finola Doyle-O’Neill, whose guidance has been of immense support, and to the sponsors, the School of History, Dept. of History of Art, Dept. of Politics, Fáilte Ireland, the Irish Research Council, and to the numerous others who contributed to making the event a success. Special acknowledgement is extended to Dr John Borgonovo, School of History, UCC for leading a highly insightful tour through Cork’s military history on Friday 13; Stephan Koch’s corralling of the troops for some memorable photographs in the Aula Maxima and the Quad lawn; the Crawford Gallery for hosting the event in their historic building on Saturday 14.
Thanks is also extended to the Irish Defence Forces, Collins Barracks, particularly Mr Gerry White, Chairman of the Cork branch of the Western Front Association, Capt Nollag Conneely and General Officer Commanding 1 Brigade, Brigadier General Diarmuid Fitzgerald for providing the perfect setting for the conference reception.
Finally, sincere gratitude is offered to the delegates and chairpersons, whose scholarly brilliance and sheer hard work combined to make the conference such a truly memorable one.
Further details on the conference can be found here.