Imagineering violence. The spectacle of violence in the early modern period

Brakke Grond, Amsterdam, 21-23 March 2019
VANDENHOVE Centre for Architecture and Arts, Ghent: 28-30 March 2019

Lectures, artist presentations, PhD seminars, exhibition “Baroque Brutalities »

The early modern period witnessed a true explosion of images on pain, suffering and violence across painting, print, theater, and public space. The public had plenty to choose from: sieges, executions, massacres. Violence fascinated the early modern spectator, yet it simultaneously conjured up numerous questions, some of which are not unlike those posed today. How can violence be represented and imagined? How can an artist document the violence of the times? What about the numerous ethical implications? When does a spectator become a voyeur? When does violence turn into spectacle? Can violence be aestheticized? Does an artist have a duty to document contemporary violence? These questions saturate modern art, from the horrors of War in Goya to the racial violence in Edward and Nancy Kienholz’s ‘Five Car Stud’.

With artistic contributions by Stef Lernous of Abattoir Fermé, Simon Pummell, Doina Kraal, Jan Rosseel, Enkidu Khaled, e.a. and lectures by internationally acclaimed cultural historians Jonathan Davis, Katie Hornstein and Benjamin Schmidt.

With the support of NWO en / and FWO.
Org.: iTEMP Research Group and Brakke Grond in collaboration with Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Universiteit Leiden, Universiteit Gent, Université Libre de Bruxelles and Huizinga-instituut.

All information in the Complete Program iTEMP and on our website: https://itempviolence.wordpress.com/

Brakke Grond: Nes 45, 1012 KD Amsterdam
VANDENHOVE Centre for Architecture and Arts: Rozier 1, Ghent