schedule of events
THURSDAY, APRIL 26 -- Artists’ Keynote
7:00 -- 9:30 p.m. Room 32-123, Stata Center, MIT; 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
A conversation with the artists from *the land*
Artists Kamin Lertchaiprasert and Aroon Puritat from The Land, Thailand, discussing "The Embarrassment of Religion in Contemporary Art" and their work at the Buddhist-based artists' community at Chiang Mai, Thailand. Commentary by, and further discussion with, Kriengsak Chareonwongsak, M.P. , Thailand. Co-presented by the History, Theory, Criticism Program at MIT (as part of the "Deus (e)X Historia" conference) and by Harvard University's Center for the Study of World Religions.
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FRIDAY, APRIL 27 -- Daytime Program
10:00 am-- 4:30 p.m. Room 1-190, MIT; 33 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
10:00-10:30 > Conference opening remarks
Session 1 > The Sleep of Reason: Spirituality Versus the Embarrassment of Religion in Contemporary Art
10:30 – 10:40 : Caroline Jones, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
session introduction
10:40 – 11:10 : James Elkins, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
"The Strange Place of Religion in Contemporary Art"
11:10 – 11:40 : Sarah Rich, Penn State University
"Leaps of Faith: Barnett Newman's Stations of the Cross paintings, 1958-1966."
11 :40 – 12:55 : Discussion adding Kamin Lertchaiprasert and Aroon Puritat from *the land,* Thailand to the panel
12:55 – 2:00 > Lunch break
Session 2 > Religion, Modernism and Aesthetics
2:00 – 2:10 : Mark Jarzombek, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
session introduction
2:10 – 2:40 : Jonathan Massey, Syracuse University
"Modernism's Fourth Dimensions"
2:40 – 3:10 : Daniel Bertrand Monk, Colgate University
"Judeus ex Machina: John Mearsheimer and the Weight of History"
3:10 – 3:40 : Jorge Otero-Pailos, Columbia University
"Catholic Modernism in America: Jean Labatut and the Postwar Turn From Abstraction to Figuration"
3:40 – 4:25 : Discussion
FRIDAY, APRIL 27 -- Keynote Address
5:00 p.m. Room 32-123, Stata Center, MIT; 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
The Blurring of Distinctions: The Crossed Destinies of India's Artistic and Religious Icons by Tapati Guha Thakurta, Professor of History at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences in Calcutta, India
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SATURDAY, APRIL 28 -- Program
9:00 am-- 7:00 p.m. Room 32-123, Stata Center, MIT; 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Session 3 > The Modern Icon: Making New Spaces for Contemplation
9:00 – 9:10 : Erika Naginski, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
session introduction
9:10 – 9:40 : Irvin C. Schick, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
"Meaning in Form and Practice: The Iconicity of Islamic Calligraphy in the Republic of Turkey"
9:40 – 10:10 : Jonathan M. Reynolds, University of Southern California
"Prehistoric Modernism: Okamoto Tarô and the Recuperation of Early Japan"
10:10 – 10:40 : Z. S. Strother, University of California, Los Angeles
"The Better to Gobble You Up: Negotiating Modernity in Masquerade from the Belgian Congo, 1910-35"
10:40 – 11:25 : Discussion
11:25 – 1:00 > Lunch break
Session 4 > Idolatry Permanent and Impermanent
1:00 – 1:10 : Arindam Dutta, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
session introduction
1:10 – 1:40 : Jamal J. Elias, The University of Pennsylvania
"(Un)making Idolatry: From Mecca to Bamiyan"
1:40 – 2:10 : D. Venkat Rao, Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages
"Tanoonapaat: Kalos Philos and the Vestiges of Trace"
2:10 – 2:40 : Alberto Moreiras, University of Aberdeen
"Idolatry as Inhabitation: From Fray Toribio de Benavente to Heidegger's Hut"
2:40 – 3:25 : Discussion
Session 5 > Time and the Divine
4:00 – 4:10 : Nasser Rabbat, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
session introduction
4:10 – 4:40 : Roy Mottahedeh, Harvard University
"The Literature of Marvels: God's Work Made Manifest"
4:40 – 5:10 : Georges Tamer, Insitut für Arabistik der
Freie Universität Berlin
"Perception of Time in the Koran"
5:10 – 5:40 : Samer Akkach, Univeristy of Adelaide
"Maxime Verum: On Angels and Architecture"
5:40 – 6:40 : Discussion
6:40 > Close
