Richard Wagner and the North

International Symposium, Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, November 8–9, 2013

 

ORGANIZERS: The University of the Arts (Sibelius Academy/DocMus and the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts), Opera on the Move project (the Academy of Finland), the Finnish Wagner Society, and the Birch and the Star Association.

Keynote speakers: Barry Millington (UK), Hannu Salmi (Finland) and Eero Tarasti (Finland).

During his lifetime, Richard Wagner’s (1813–1883) only visit to the Nordic countries was to Norway: in July of 1839 his ship Thetis was caught in a storm and sought refuge in Sandvika. There is also a legend that Wagner visited the Imatra rapids in eastern Finland during his stay in St. Petersburg in 1863.

Wagner’s music, however, not only visited the Nordic countries, but also became a permanent resident in the national opera houses there. Rienzi was first performed in Stockholm in 1865, followed by Der Fliegende Holländer (1872), Lohengrin (1874) and Tannhäuser (1878). The Royal Opera in Copenhagen began its Wagner performances with Lohengrin (1870), soon followed by Die Meistersinger (1872) and Tannhäuser (1875). In Kristiania and Helsinki regular Wagner performances started much later, as national opera institutions with regular programmes began only in the 20th century. However, touring or temporary companies performed Wagner for Nordic audiences, for instance, in Finland with Tannhäuser (Helsinki, 1857). The first Wagner opera performed in Riga was Der fliegende Holländer (1843) and in Tallinn, Tannhäuser (1853). Lohengrin reached St. Petersburg in 1868.

Several singers originating in the Nordic countries made unforgettable careers thanks to Wagner repertoire, including Olive Fremstad (1871–1951), Lauritz Melchior (1890–1973), Kirsten Flagstad (1895–1962), Birgit Nilsson (1918–2005) and Anita Välkki (1926–2011). In addition to singers, many conductors, such as Armas Järnefelt (1869–1958), and stage directors, including Stefan Herheim (b. 1970) and Kasper Holten (b. 1973), have developed a special attachment to Wagner’s operas.

Wagner in Performance

One of the main topics of the conference is to explore the arrival and settling of Wagner’s operas in the Nordic countries, as well as in the Baltic area and St. Petersburg, covering the long time span from the advent of Wagner performances until today. How were the performances adapted to particular local resources, e.g. the size of the orchestras? Did Wagner operas dislodge other types of repertoire? What consequences might Wagner’s operas have had for scenic conventions and vocal ideals?

Wagner and Politics

Throughout his lifetime, Richard Wagner was a politically-charged figure. Besides his very person, his numerous writings and even his operas have sometimes led to heated political debates. Even today the topic occasionally raises extreme responses. The Jewish question, albeit central, is only one issue relevant here; others include revolution and the relationship to power. With the topic of Wagner and the North we invite speakers to explore the reception and influence of Wagner’s manifold political messages in the North with or without relation to his operas.

Wagner and the Other Arts

Wagner’s operas and writings inspired the literature and visual arts and were a continuous reference point from the late Romantic and Symbolist movements on. The example of the Nibelungen lies in the background of illustrations for the Kalevala and other Nordic legends. An essay published by Sergei Diaghilev in 1898 by the journal Ateneum entitled ‘‘Invecklade Spörmål’ [Intricate Problems], the first and most extensive of several versions, suggested that the Wagner cult could become the basis for a new art. Based on Wagner’s ideas, the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk served the creation of artworks whereby talents from different fields merged, a heritage that persists today. How was Gesamtkunswerk understood and interpreted in the North of Europe? How was the Nordic iconography derived from Wagner received both in the Nordic and the Latin countries?

Free papers

Besides the topics presented above we are keen to receive papers that explore other aspects of Richard Wagner, his operas and his writings relevant to the themes of this conference.

The proposals

Proposals for individual papers (20 minutes + 10 minutes for discussion), lecture demonstrations (45 minutes) and panels 
(90 minutes) should be sent as abstracts (max 400 words) to markus.kuikka@siba.fi along with full contact information
for the author(s). The language of the conference and for the abstracts is English. The deadline for the abstracts is May 31, 2013, and the authors will be contacted by June 15, 2013. The
 organizers plan to initiate a book project on the basis of selected
 conference papers. Besides scholarly proposals also ones representing practices-based research (‘artistic research’) are welcome.

Programme Commitee: Professor Anne Sivuoja-Kauppala, Dr. Martin Knust Professor, Veijo Murtomäki and Professor Riikka Stewen.

Coordinator: Dr. Markus Kuikka

A three-day interdisciplinary symposium is organized by Art History, Södertörn University, 11- 13 September 2013. Attention will be given to the avant-gardes of the period c. 1910-1930 across Europe, with a certain focus on those of the Nordic Countries, Central and Eastern Europe, and their orientation to the Parisian avant-garde.

Keynote speakers:

• Professor David Cottington (Kingston University, London)

• Professor Piotr Piotrowski (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan)

Venues: Södertörn University and Moderna Museet, Stockholm

At a time when modernist art history of the early avant-garde is urgently questioned from different positions, an exploration of theoretical tools for the study of the early avant-garde and its transnational strategies is needed, as well as a mapping of the research within the field that is now developing in different parts of Europe. This symposium is intended as a starting-point for such (a) collective project (s).

 avant-garde-Call_for_Papers.pdf  call.papers.full.version.pdf

We welcome scholars to submit proposals before April 15th, 2013.

Seminar on Beda Stjernschantz 10 April 2013 at Amos Anderson Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland

The seminar is open to the public but pre-registration is required. Anyone wishing to attend should send an email to itha.oneill(at)amosanderson.fi by 3 April 2013.

The Seminar is in English.

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Seminaari on yleisölle avoin, mutta osallistuminen edellyttää ennakkoilmoittautumisen. Ilmoittaudu lähettämällä sähköpostiviesti 3.4.2013 mennessä osoitteeseen  itha.oneill(at)amosanderson.fi

Seminaari on englanninkielinen.

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Programme

10–10.30 Registration

10.30 Welcome Speech: Museum Director Kai Kartio. Opening Words: Torsten Stjernschantz.

10.45 Juha-Heikki Tihinen, University of Helsinki

Tangible Elusiveness ­– Realized and Unrealized Artistic Ideas in the Oeuvre of Beda Stjernschantz

11.15 Asta Kihlman, University of Turku

“The unmoved eye and the look of eternity”

11.45 Nina Kokkinen, University of Turku

As an Initiate of Spiritual Art. Beda Stjernschantz’s Aphorism (1895) and Fin-de-siècle Occulture

12.15–13.15 Lunch break (not included)

13.15 Marja Lahelma, University of Helsinki

Beda Stjernschantz and the Timeless Ideal

13.45 Bart Pushaw, University of Chicago

A Swedish Karelia?  Beda Stjernschantz’s Everywhere A Voice Invites Us

14.15 Anna-Maria von Bonsdorff, Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki

In search of sacred art  – Beda Stjernschantz and Anna Bremer on the Island of Vormsi 1895

14.45–15.00 Coffee break

15.00  Edyta Barucka, University of Warsaw

”I embrace the common…”: Beda Stjernschantz’s, Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s and Stanislaw Wyspianski’s botanical drawings

15.30 Salla Heino, Design Museum, Helsinki

Beda Stjernschantz’s Sketches for The Friends of Finnish Handicraft – Designing Finnish Textiles

16–17.30 Roundtable Talks

17.30 Cocktail Reception

Venue: Amos Anderson Art Museum, Yrjönkatu 27, 00100 Helsinki, Finland www.amosanderson.fi

 

An exhibition on the work of the Finnish artist Beda Stjernschantz (1867-1910) is scheduled to open at the Amos Anderson Art Museum in February 2014. Beda Stjernschantz was an important member of the generation of Finnish Symbolist artists that emerged in the 1890s but art historical research on her work is insufficient, in part due to her limited oeuvre. Thus, The Birch and the Star and Amos Anderson Art Museum are organizing a one-day seminar to bring together researchers who share an interest in Beda Stjernschantz and the art and culture of the fin-de-siècle. The aim of the seminar will be to coalesce and interpret existing art historical knowledge pertaining to Beda Stjernschantz and to reassess the significance of her work in an international context. Interdisciplinary by nature, the seminar will act as a springboard for the exhibition and will hopefully open up new and interesting perspectives on the artist who has hitherto remained under the scholarly radar.

The seminar is open to the public but preregistration is required. Anyone wishing to attend should send an email to itha.oneill(at)amosanderson.fi by     3 April 2013.

For further enquiries, please contact Marja Lahelma, marja.lahelma(at)helsinki.fi.

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Programme

10–10.30 Registration

10.30 Welcome Speech: Museum Director Kai Kartio. Opening Words: Torsten Stjernschantz.

10.45 Juha-Heikki Tihinen, University of Helsinki

Tangible Elusiveness ­– Realized and Unrealized Artistic Ideas in the Oeuvre of Beda Stjernschantz

11.15 Asta Kihlman, University of Turku

“The unmoved eye and the look of eternity”

11.45 Nina Kokkinen, University of Turku

As an Initiate of Spiritual Art. Beda Stjernschantz’s Aphorism (1895) and Fin-de-siècle Occulture

12.15–13.15 Lunch break (not included)

13.15 Marja Lahelma, University of Helsinki

Beda Stjernschantz and the Timeless Ideal – Pastoral (Primavera) and Autumn

13.45 Bart Pushaw, University of Chicago

A Swedish Karelia?  Beda Stjernschantz’s Everywhere A Voice Invites Us

14.15 Anna-Maria von Bonsdorff, Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki

In search of sacred art  – Beda Stjernschantz and Anna Bremer on the Island of Vormsi 1895

14.45–15.00 Coffee break

15.00  Edyta Barucka, University of Warsaw

”I embrace the common…”: Beda Stjernschantz’s, Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s and Stanislaw Wyspianski’s botanical drawings

15.30 Salla Heino, Design Museum, Helsinki

Beda Stjernschantz’s Sketches for The Friends of Finnish Handicraft – Designing Finnish Textiles

16–17.30 Roundtable Talks

17.30 Cocktail Reception

Venue: Amos Anderson Art Museum, Yrjönkatu 27, 00100 Helsinki, Finland www.amosanderson.fi

Towards the end of the nineteenth-century, European artists began to express a new profound interest in their unique local pasts and cultural inheritances. This growing sense of identity prompted a major flowering of Nationalist debate concerning the fast disappearing regional cultures throughout Europe. This was a discourse largely shaped by the desire within several countries for cultural and artistic, and ultimately social and economic, independence.

The project and its aim:

Established in 2009, the ‘European Revivals’ research project aims to reflect upon these national revivals in Europe, where art historical scholarship on the subject has already been broadly established. However, there has never been a joint project that examines this phenomenon on a wider-scale and that has sought to analyse the multifarious connections and correspondences, which helped shape the identities of each of these modern nations. The ‘European Revivals’ project, therefore, aims to study and show the similarities and differences of these countries for the first time on a European-scale and will explore different aspects at each conference. ‘European Revivals’ will continue to 2017 and will end with a publication and an international exhibition.

European Revivals – Modern Identities, International Conference will be held the 10th – 12th October 2012. Our aim is to continue the project in Helsinki by drawing National Museums and Galleries and scholars together in the second European Revivals Conference at Ateneum Art Museum, Finnish National Gallery.

The Modern Identities Conference will be accompanied by an extensive exhibition on Helene Schjerfbeck (1862−1946). The major retrospective exhibition shows artworks throughout her career from the 1870s to 1940s. The exhibition is open to delegates during the conference.

See the conference programme

Booking fee:
60 euros (speaker) or 100 euros (delegate) participating in the excursion
30 euros (speaker), 50 euros (delegate)

70 euros (student) participating in the excursion
30 euros (student) without the excursion

Conference fee will include the Reception on Wednesday, visiting the Ateneum Art Museum and Helene Schjerfbeck (1862-1946) exhibition, the conference programme (Wed-Fri) and coffee/tea.

Conference fees exclude: travel, accommodation and lunch (Thu-Fri).

The Excursion day on Saturday will include lunch, refreshments and visits to the museums and transportation.

Registration form and payment info

For further information please contact:

Conference Producer Anu Utriainen
anu.utriainen@ateneum.fi
tel. +358 9 17336 385, mobile +358 40 673 5064
Finnish National Gallery
Kaivokatu 2, 00100 Helsinki, Finland

Curator Anna-Maria von Bonsdorff
abonsdor@ateneum.fi
Finnish National Gallery
Kaivokatu 2, 00100 Helsinki, Finland

An exhibition on the work of the Finnish artist Beda Stjernschantz (1867-1910) is scheduled to open at the Amos Anderson Art Museum in February 2014. Beda Stjernschantz was an important member of the generation of Finnish Symbolist artists that emerged in the 1890s but art historical research on her work is insufficient, in part due to her limited oeuvre. Thus, The Birch and the Star and Amos Anderson Art Museum are organizing a one-day seminar to bring together researchers who share an interest in Beda Stjernschantz and the art and culture of the fin-de-siècle. The aim of the seminar will be to coalesce and interpret existing art historical knowledge pertaining to Beda Stjernschantz and to reassess the significance of her work in an international context. Interdisciplinary by nature, the seminar will act as a springboard for the exhibition and will hopefully open up new and interesting perspectives on the artist who has hitherto remained under the scholarly radar.

The organizers invite proposals for 30 minute presentations that provide scholarly perspectives into the life and work of Beda Stjernschantz. We particularly welcome papers that examine Beda Stjernschantz’s artistic activities in the international context of fin-de-siècle art and culture and thus help to shed new light on her relationship with other artists, art forms, and cultural phenomena.

Those interested in presenting a paper at the seminar should send an abstract proposal of circa 300 words to marja.lahelma@helsinki.fi and birchandstar@gmail.com by 15 November 2012. Proposals may be written in English, Finnish, or Swedish.

Speakers will present their papers and engage in roundtable talks. After the seminar speakers will have the opportunity to elaborate on their papers and produce essays for the exhibition catalogue. Deadline for the final essays is 15 May 2013.

For further enquiries, please contact Marja Lahelma, marja.lahelma@helsinki.fi.

Venue: Amos Anderson Art Museum, Yrjönkatu 27, 00100 Helsinki, Finland, www.amosanderson.fi