EUGENE, Ore. -- (April 2, 2010) - The University of Oregon Department of Art History and the student-led Art History Association will host the 2010 spring symposium "Art and Ritual" April 15 to 17, in Eugene.
The sixth edition of the annual symposium will include a round table discussion, keynote lecture and presentations of student research on the topic of memory, belief and ritual in the visual arts. All events are free and open to the public. 
The symposium features a keynote address by Carlo Severi, a scholar of anthropology of art and the chair of Anthropology of Memory at the Ecoles des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris. Severi has written extensively on the shamanistic traditions of the Cuna Indians in Panama, where he conducted years of fieldwork. His recent book, "The Law of the Chimera: An Anthropology of Memory," is an extensive study of ornaments, body painting and pictogram and ritual masks as "mnemonic supports" in societies without writing.
"Within the field of anthropology of art, few scholars can rival Professor Severi's rigorous analysis of art and language in societies without writing," said Joyce Cheng, art history professor. "His work helps us understand the effectiveness of symbolic forms not only as aesthetic objects, but as means of constructing memory, beliefs and complex rituals."
Severi will give a public lecture on religious iconography of the Penitentes Brotherhood in the American Southwest, entitled "Iconography and Ritual Agency: The Case
of Doña Sebastiana." The lecture will be at 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 16, in the Ford Lecture Hall, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, 1430 Johnson Lane.
Severi's visit to UO also will include an interdisciplinary roundtable discussion from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 15. The discussion, "Memory, Belief, and Ritual," will include the following UO faculty: Akiko Walley, professor of art history; Louise Bishop, professor of English literature and the Clark Honors College; Phil Scher, professor of anthropology; and Mark Unno, professor of religious studies.
On Saturday, April 17, undergraduate and graduate students in art history and related fields from UO and other universities will present their research on the topic of art and ritual.
The Art and Ritual symposium is sponsored by the Sponenburgh Lectureship on the History and Aesthetics of Sculpture, the Art History Association, and the School of Architecture and Allied Arts Student Advisory Committee.
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of the 62 leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.
Media contact: Karen Johnson, AAA external relations and communications, 541-346-3603, karenjj@uoregon.edu
Source: Joyce Cheng, assistant professor, Department of Art History, joycec@uoregon.edu, 541-346-3677
Links:
Art History Association, http://aaa.uoregon.edu/aha/symposium/
Art History Department, http://arthistory.uoregon.edu/
Figure of Doña Sebastiana, http://www.collectorsguide.com/fa/fa049.shtml