The National Museum in Belgrade along with Department of Netherlandic Studies of the University of Belgrade and with support of the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia has the honour and pleasure of inviting you to participate in

Printmaking is an art form that blends various aspects and expressions of the culture in which it is created. Its complex meaning is built on an interrelationship with painting, yet also draws on other fine arts – on literature, music, theatre. At the same time, however, printmaking reaches beyond pure artistry and into the realms of economic and social activity, namely trade and communications.
Netherlandish printmaking is a paradigm of this medium’s comprehensive significance. Rooted in the rich and dynamic production of the 15th to 17th century, its works at once reflect both the historical fluidity of their time and the unique spiritual, intellectual and social climate which made the Netherlands distinguishable within Western Europe. The foundations of Netherlandish printmaking lay in the bourgeois class, which not only provided a stable market demand – thus, ensuring stable production – but also contributed to the richness of thematic content. The result is a tradition of immense versatility, its content ranging from true fine art to informative to documentary.
The Belgrade conference will approach Netherlandish printmaking as a phenomenon of the early modern art, a highly mobile medium operating on the principles of aesthetic, social and culturological communication. In particular, the multilayered significance of Netherlandish printed art will be explored from two points of view: the intermedial (i.e. within the common field of fine arts) and the social, where investigating meaning involves a much broader perspective. With these goals in mind, we propose the following discussion topics:
– Netherlandish Printmaking: The Possibilities for Redefining Existing Models in the Intermedial Field of Fine Arts;
– Reproductive Prints: A Transmission of Iconographic Content and Auxiliary Means of Disseminating Visual Records or Works of Art in Their Own Right;
– The Interrelationship Between Netherlandish Printmaking and Literature and Music;
– Printmaking and Theatre: Two Expressions of Early Modern Popular Culture;
– Netherlandish Printmaking: The Possibilities for Expansion towards other European cultures
(Southeastern and Eastern Europe);
– Iconographic Routes: Interpreting Models or Adopting Meaning? To what extent, if any, did
Netherlandish printmaking manifest itself or influenced art in regions with different cultural traditions; – Netherlandish Printmaking as Visual Sociological Information.
– Netherlandish Prints as Collectibles in Countries Bordering or Beyond Mercantile and Cultural
Thoroughfares.

Please fill out the form for participation at the Conference before 25 August 2019