Max and Iris Stern International Symposium (First edition)
ARTS OF MEMORY. Materials, Media, Mythologies

Montréal, January 31, 2006 – Since 1994, the Musée d’art contemporain has held symposiums designed to introduce the public to a variety of theoretical approaches, through the eyes of theorists, historians and artists from different fields. To pay homage to Max and Iris Stern, the museum announced in 2005 that its international symposiums would henceforth be presented under the name Max and Iris Stern International Symposium. The inaugural edition of this event, organized in collaboration with the Canadian Centre for German and European Studies and the Université de Montréal’s Centre de recherche sur l’intermédialité, and entitled ARTS OF MEMORY. Materials, Media, Mythologies,will take place this coming March 22, 23 and 24, in conjunction with the exhibition Anselm Kiefer: Heaven – Earth. The sessions will be given in French and English, in the museum’s Beverley Webster Rolph Hall.

The symposium ARTS OF MEMORY will focus on four separate yet interconnected notions or themes: memory, material, media and mythologies. Memory will be discussed from various perspectives, such as its relationship with the media and the issues involved in a historical reading. Media, including photography, film and the Internet, will be examined from the viewpoint of the new-media aesthetic—Web art, for example—in contemporary culture. Material, or matter, also relates to the question of memory when it is expressed in terms of reciprocity. The theme of mythologies will be explored through the work of Anselm Kiefer, as well as from the angle of metamorphoses.

The symposium title is also meant as a tribute to the esteemed art historian Daniel Arasse (1944-2003), and to his major research on the “arts of memory” which led him to a completely different approach to Anselm Kiefer’s work.

The guest speakers and moderators for the Max and Iris Stern International Symposium are: Hubertus von Amelunxen, Founding Director of the International School of New Media (Lübeck, Germany) and General Director of the École Européenne Supérieure de l’Image (Angoulême / Poitiers, France) / Philippe Despoix, co-director of the Canadian Centre for German and European Studies, and professor in the Department of Comparative Literature at the Université de Montréal / Myrtô Dutrisac, post-doctoral fellow in the research group “Médias et mémoire. Perspectives croisées sur l’Allemagne contemporaine” (Université de Montréal) / André Habib, PhD candidate in comparative literature at the Université de Montréal (literature and cinema option) / Ute Holl,assistant professor at the Bauhaus University Weimar, Media Department / Conor Joyce, London-based art critic/ Verena Kuni, lecturer at the University of Frankfurt / Christine Lavrence, Assistant Professor at St. Francis Xavier University (Antigonish) / Ines Lindner, art historian and currently an invited scholar at the CRI (Centre de recherche sur l’intermédialité, Université de Montréal) / Caroline Moine, post-doctoral fellow at the Centre Marc Bloch, Berlin / Walter Moser, head of the Canada Research Chair in Cultural and Literary Transfers at the University of Ottawa / Régine Robin, professor emeritus at the Université du Québec à Montréal / Marie-Noëlle Ryan, professor of philosophy at the Université de Moncton / Sabine Schütz, of the University of Cologne and author of Anselm Kiefer. Geschichte als Material (1999) / and Barbara Wolbert of the Department of Cultural Anthropology at the EuropeanUniversity Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder).

The symposium ARTS OF MEMORY. Materials, Media, Mythologies is organized under the direction of Christine Bernier, Educator – Cultural Programs at the Musée, and Philippe Despoix, co-director (Montréal) of the Canadian Centre for German and European Studies. It begins on Wednesday, March 22 at 5 p.m. and runs through Thursday, March 23, from9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday, March 24, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Registration costs $20 ($10 for students and Friends of the Musée). Information: Telephone (514) 847-6239, website www.macm.org, e-mail colloque@macm.org. The registration form is available on the Musée website and can be faxed to (514) 847-6293 or mailed in. The Musée d’art contemporain is located at 185, rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest (corner Jeanne-Mance), Place-des-Arts metro. It is strongly recommended that you register as soon as possible.

From the time the Musée d’art contemporain was founded in 1964, Max and Iris Stern contributed significantly to its growth by enriching the Collection with 86 gifts, including works by Hans Arp, Paul-Émile Borduas, Emily Carr, John Lyman and Jean-Paul Riopelle. In addition, in April 2004, the museum received a $250,000 gift from the Max Stern Foundation to form an endowment fund for holding a new series of international symposiums.

The Musée d’art contemporain thanks the Hyatt Regency hotelfor its participation.

The Musée d'art contemporain is a provincially owned corporation funded by the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec. It receives additional funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts.

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Source: Francine Arsenault

Information:
Danielle Legentil
Media Relations Officer
Tel.: (514) 847-6232  
danielle.legentil@macm.org