Department Weddigen

Art of the Modern Age in a Global Context

Profile

The construction of Modernity, including the Contemporary, was underpinned by early modern experiments in art and theory. These, conversely, require today’s methodological approaches to be understood and activated anew. Moreover, in the longue durée of the Modern Age, art and its theory became increasingly defined by global, transcultural entanglements. Today’s methodological approaches – from queer, decolonial, to computational – help to address two kinds of challenges. One consists in what, by default, is the meaning of modern and contemporary art. The other is posed by major geopolitical and societal shifts that shape today’s fragmenting reality in its artistic, academic, and planetary dimensions. Thus, studying the history of art, early modern to contemporary, contributes to imagining and securing a livable future. The Department, directed by Tristan Weddigen since 2017, has defined five long-term Research Priorities. In the last three years, Rome Contemporary has become a test field for innovative, integrated, digital research procedures and environments. Materiality and Mediality continues to explore art’s intermedial discourses while Italy in a Global Context divides its attention between Latin American art and architecture on the one hand and Italy’s fascist cultural heritage on the other. The Transnational History of Art History is focused on the edition of Heinrich Wölfflin’s Collected Writings and the critical discussion of methodology. Finally, the Department has heavily invested in the emerging field of Digital Visual Studies, both propelling innovation of the Institute’s research infrastructures through the DH Lab and building a dynamic research team that explores the intersection of Art History and Computer Science. As an additional initiative prompted by the geopolitical challenges of the current moment, #ScienceForUkraine has responded to the needs of scholars affected by the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine.

Report 2022–2024

In the last three years, Rome Contemporary has become a test field for innovative, integrated, digital research procedures and environments. Materiality and Mediality continues to explore art’s intermedial discourses, e.g. that of textiles, and hosts the Census Fellowship. The focus Italy in a Global Context has become the Department’s main Research Priority, studying, on the one hand, Latin American art and architecture and, on the other hand, Italy’s fascist cultural heritage and today’s decolonial approaches, from which two initiatives have emerged, the research unit Decolonizing Italian Visual and Material Culture and the Max Planck Partner Group Sport, Body, and Race in Fascist Visual Culture. Moreover, the Department also hosted the Paris x Rome Fellowship from 2018 to 2024. The Transnational History of Art History is focused on the edition of Heinrich Wölfflin’s Collected Writings and the critical discussion of methodology. The Department has heavily invested in the emerging field of Digital Visual Studies, both propelling innovation of the Institute’s research infrastructures through the DH Lab, and building a cutting edge research team that explores the intersection of Art History and Computer Science. Finally, the #ScienceForUkraine initiative has responded to the needs of scholars affected by the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine. As for funding, the ratio among the six Research Priorities was 19,46% for Rome Contemporary, 19,53% for Materiality & Mediality, 26,66% for Italy in a Global Context, 20,86% for The Transnational History of Art History, 2,86% for Digital Studies and 10,60% for #ScienceForUkraine. 

The Department has promoted methodological approaches that draw upon Feminism, Gender, Queer, and Disability Studies, Marxism, Eco-Criticism, Transcultural and Decolonial Studies, the history of methodology, transmediality, Artistic Research, Digital Art History, and critical AI Studies. The circa 76 research projects hosted and mostly funded by the Department were undertaken by scholars from 14 nations. 55% of the months funded by fellowships were allocated to postdocs, and 64% to women. The Department hosted 22 interns from seven different nations. To enhance agile innovation 0.65M EUR of external funding were raised. Circa 2.8M EUR were generated in contexts other than the Institute. 

Thanks to the collaboration with the University of Zurich, the Digital Visual Studies research group has found an excellent environment for research in Digital Humanities. Furthermore, the Wölfflin edition project has funded up to five postdoctoral and six student assistant positions, two of the Department’s Fellows received SNSF postdoctoral grants, one Fellow an SNSF predoctoral grant, another one a predoctoral Scientific Assistant position, and five Fellows have obtained teaching assignments. This record attests to the Department’s role in promoting young researchers’ international careers. In the timespan covered by this report, among the eleven ongoing Ph.D. projects and the four completed under Weddigen’s supervision, nine are supervised by former or current Fellows, while two mentored habilitations were achieved by former Fellows of the Bibliotheca Hertziana. 

Outlook

In 2025, the Department will continue exploring how to conduct innovative, internationally competitive, and sustainable research in Art History under the impact of climate change, global political crises, and the AI revolution. While, from day one, the Department has abolished scholarly invitations requiring long-distance flights, from January 2025 the Department will stop funding flights altogether, for both its members and its guests.