Workshop: Conceptual Art in the Expanded Field: Past, Present, Future
September 11–12, 2026
Kunsthistorisches Seminar, Vortragsraum 131
St. Alban-Graben 8, 4051 Basel
The event will be held in English.
The workshop critically examines the complexity of artistic production from the late 1960s onward that has commonly been grouped under the term “conceptual art,” bringing together established scholars and emerging researchers from European universities. While this field has been the subject of extensive scholarship, its history has often been framed around a limited number of canonical figures and relatively orthodox interpretations of their work. Building on our specific research interests—including feminist and subversive practices, experiences of migration, and material and cultural history—this workshop approaches conceptual art through a range of complementary perspectives, including archives, documentation, and exhibitions; global circulations and diasporas; political, social, and infrastructural stakes; memory and temporality; and categories such as race and gender. Rather than treating conceptual art as a closed historical episode, the event seeks to establish connections with contemporary societal issues that continue to shape artistic production today, thereby encouraging productive dialogue between historical research and present concerns.
This event marks the first step toward a transnational research network on conceptual art, with the ambition of developing future workshops, symposia, publications, and collaborative projects between Basel, Fribourg, Paris, and beyond.
The workshop is organized by Anja Delz (Universität Fribourg), Louis-Antoine Mège (Sorbonne-Université, Paris/documenta Institut, Kassel), Paula Stoica (Universität Basel), and Emma Wils (Sorbonne-Université, Paris).
Workshop Program
September 10
6–8 pm: Keynote lecture by Prof. Sabeth Buchmann (Academy of Fine Arts Vienna): “The Gesturally Expanded Field of (Proto-Feminist) Conceptual Art: The Artistic Practices of Blythe Bohnen and Rosemarie Castoro”
September 11
9.30–10 am: Louis-Antoine Mege, Welcome and introductory remarks
10–10.45 am: Michele Valetti, From Phenomena to Geometries: Laura Grisi’s Conceptual Trajectory in Italy (1968-1977)
Break
11–11.45 am: Paula Stoica, “Homer wrote and I copied:” On Hanne Darboven’s Odyssee
11.45–12.30 pm: Elize Mazadiego, The Art of Gossip: Ulises Carrión, marginal communication, and queer conceptualism
12.30–2 pm: Lunch break
2–2.45 pm: Anja Delz, Akin to letters: Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s correspondence art in Amsterdam
2.45–3.30 pm: Rada Georgieva, Geographies of Exile: Guillermo Deisler, Juan Downey, and Uneven Visibility in Chilean Conceptualism
Break
4–4.45 pm: Sezgin Boynik, The Portrait of Yugoslavia in the Style of Art & Language (online)
4.45–5.30 pm: Felix Vogel, (De-)Declaration, Intention, Exhibition Form
September 12
9–9.45 am: Markus Klammer, “So is this”. Indexicality in Michael Snow
9.45–10.30 am: Emma Wils, The section of photography in On Kawara’s Journals: A Marginal Practice between Document, City, and Temporality
Break
11–11.30 am: Alena J. Williams, Limited Holdings: Conceptualism and Time in Contemporary Art
11.30–12.15 pm: Sara Martinetti, Jean-Noël Herlin “prepared” archive (online)
12.15–12.30 pm: Closing remarks
Contact
For questions, please contact paula.stoica@unibas.ch or louis-a.mege@live.fr
Web: https://kunstgeschichte.philhist.unibas.ch/de/aktuelles/details/conceptual-art-in-the-expanded-field-past-present-future-workshop/
Image: Theresa Hak Kyung Cha: Untitled (Paper) (film); Super -8.3 minutes. 24 frames per second. Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Gift of the Theresa Hak Kyung Cha Memorial Foundation.
