The recent exhibitions“Gothic Modern” at the Ateneum in Helsinki, National Museum in Oslo and the Albertina in Vienna (lead curators Juliet Simpson and Anna-Maria von Bonsdorff) explored the modern turn to the medieval, the museum networks that fostered a fascination with Gothic art as an expression of a latent, uncanny modernity, and the visibility of diverse imaginaries shaped through these networks. They highlighted a fascination with the Gothic that transcends national, cultural, and gender boundaries. Building on these perspectives, the workshop on Gothic Modern/Vienna 1900 in Vienna, organized by Juliet Simpson (Warburg Institute, London), Assaf Pinkus (University of Vienna), and Andreas Nierhaus (University of Vienna/Wien Museum), seeks to explore the significance of the Middle Ages and the Gothic in the context of Vienna around 1900, and to outline directions for future research on a broad methodological and thematic basis.
PROGRAM
9:15–9:30 Welcome and Workshop Opening
9:30–10:00
Votivkirche and the Modern (Re)construction of the „Gothic Cathedral“
Wojciech Bałus (Jagellonian University, Krakow)
10:00–10:30
Armouring the Modern Body. Medieval Knights in Vienna 1900
Andreas Nierhaus (University of Vienna)
10:30–11:00
Gothic Modern and the Vienna Secession
Arnika Groenewald Schmidt (Belvedere Museum, Vienna)
11:00–11:30 Coffee/Tea Break
11:30–12:00
Das Rätsel (in) der Kunstgeschichte: Discourse on Gothic Art in Vienna after 1900
Tomáš Murár (Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, and University of Vienna)
12:00–12:30 Discussion
12:30-13:30 Lunch Break
13:30–14:00
Embodied Vienna Gothics – Women and the Medieval as Artistic Agency, c. 1900s
Juliet Simpson (The Warburg Institute, London)
14:00–14:30
Fritz Lang’s Nibelungenlied and the Vision of Gothic Modernity
Assaf Pinkus (University of Vienna)
14:30–15:00
Please Don’t Mind the Gap: Toward Authorized Medieval Heritage Discourses in Austrian State Museums (1922–1953)
Cedric Huss (University of Vienna)
15:00–15:15 Coffee/Tea Break
15:15-16:00 Plenary and Future Research Directions
The workshop is organized by Juliet Simpson, Assaf Pinkus, and Andreas Nierhaus. For more information, please contact Hanna Herceg (hanna.herceg@univie.ac.at).
