CLARK ART INSTITUTE FELLOW PRESENTS FREE LECTURE: “THE AESTHETIC COLONIZATION OF CONQUERED ISLAMIC CITIES”

October 16, 2018

Williamstown, Massachusetts—The Clark Art Institute’s Center for Spain in America Fellow Doron Bauer presents the free lecture “The Aesthetic Colonization of Conquered Islamic Cities: From Palma de Mallorca to Tel Aviv” on Tuesday, October 30 at 5:30 pm. The lecture will be held in the Clark’s auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center.

Bauer’s lecture examines the transformation of Islamic Madina Mayurqa into Christian Palma de Mallorca after the Catalan conquest of 1229. This shift set the parameters for a systemic study of the aesthetic colonization of conquered Islamic cities across the Mediterranean—from the Middle Ages to the present day.

Doron Bauer is an assistant professor of medieval and Islamic art history at Florida State University. He is the author of Romanesque Sculpture: Towards an Anti-Iconography (Madrid: La Ergástula, forthcoming) and Art in the Kingdom of Majorca: An Anthology of Sources (Edicions Universitat de les Illes Balears, forthcoming). At the Clark, he is working on Cities Upon Cities: The Reconquista and the Colonization of the Aesthetic, a book that examines the Occidentalization-Christianization of Islamic cities in Iberia and Africa after the Christian conquest as manifested in changes to the cities’ public monuments, private spaces, urban fabric, and material culture.

ABOUT THE CLARK

The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, consisting of more than 270,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.

The Clark, which has a three-star rating in the Michelin Green Guide, is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm; open daily in July and August. Admission is $20; free year-round for Clark members, children 18 and younger, and students with valid ID. Free admission is available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; EBT Card to Culture; Bank of America Museums on Us; and Blue Star Museums. For more information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.

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