Recent news from the CVC and its members
The CVC and its members are consistently working on new projects, speaking at events and developing research ideas. From podcasts to exhibitions, announcements to funding grants, seminars to workshops, see below for the most recent news from us at the Centre for Visual Cultures.
ENGAGED VISUALITY: SYMPOSIUM
Wednesday 15 June, 2022
CVC member Giuliana Pieri is on the Scientific Committee of a symposium happening 7-8 July 2022 in Rome.
Engaged Visuality investigates the impact of new media, political imagery, and semiotics on poesia visiva phenomenon by focusing on a bilateral case study rarely analyzed from a comparative and transcultural perspective: the foundation of the international poetry magazine Lotta Poetica (first series: 1971-75) by Sarenco and Paul De Vree, i.e., the aim of Italian and Belgian interartistic exchanges, co-authored initiatives, and cross-disciplinary inquiries.
For more information, see here.
PLAY ADAPTATION OF DAVID VILASECA'S BOOK
Monday 6th June, 2022

Foto cartell Els homes i els dies © Jordi Play



An adaptation David Vilaseca's book Els Homes i els Dies recently played at the Teatro Nacional de Catalunya from 21st April - 29th May. David's sister, Marta, has translated three reviews of the play which can be read here.
For information on the production itself, visit the theatre website, here.
NEW PUBLICATION FROM ERIC ROBERTSON
Friday 20th May, 2022
Blaise Cendrars: The Invention of Life, by Eric Robertson, London: Reaktion Books, 2022, 328 pages 40 illustrations, 8 in colour.
In 1912 the young Frédéric-Louis Sauser arrived in France, carrying an experimental poem and a new identity: Blaise Cendrars was born. Over the next half-century, Cendrars wrote innovative poems, novels, essays, film scripts and autobiographical prose. His ground-breaking books and collaborations with artists such as Sonia Delaunay and Fernand Léger remain astonishingly modern today. Cendrars’s writings reflect his insatiable curiosity, his vast knowledge, which was largely self-taught, and his love of everyday life.
In this new account Eric Robertson examines Cendrars’s work against a turbulent historical background and reassesses his contribution to twentieth-century literature. Cendrars is as relevant today as ever before and deserves a wider readership in the English-speaking world.
Full details on the publisher's website: http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/display.asp?ISB=9781789145205
The book is distributed in North America by the University of Chicago Press: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/B/bo157942587.html
MARTINA BORGHI TALKS AT THE CVC
Thursday 18th May, 2022
On Thursday 18th May, the CVC was delighted to welcome doctoral researcher, Martina Borghi, to speak on the 'experimentations' of the Italian Programmed and Kinetic Art Groups. Martina outlined the main features of this movement which heralded significant innovations and the slides for her presentation can be found here.
THE CVC PODCAST
Monday 16th May, 2022
The CVC is excited to announce our new podcast: (un)touched. Centring on the theme of touch, tangibility and intangibility in the world of art and visual culture, CVC doctoral students will be talking to curators and gallerists as well as drawing on the research expertise of the centre as a whole to delve into questions about engaging and interacting with visual culture.
Stay tuned for our first episode launching soon!
NEW EXHIBIT: Kalila wa Dimna
Thursday 12th May, 2022
CVC member, Dr Rachel Scott, has collaborated on an art exhibition and public programme inspired by the global journeys of an ancient collection of moral fables across time and place, language, religion and culture.
Kalila wa Dimna: Ancient Tales for Troubled Times approaches storytelling through various artistic mediums, aiming to widen access to and engagement with the arts within diverse and often marginalised communities while promoting cross-cultural understanding.
The exhibit and artistic program has developed out of the work of Language Acts and Worldmaking, a flagship project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Open World Research Initiative. It is principally supported by The National Lottery Fund, Arts Council England and Language Acts and Worldmaking. The exhibition is hosted by the P21 Gallery.
For more information and to book to attend workshops, talks and seminars, visit the project website: here.
ERIC ROBERTSON TALKS AT THE COURTAULD RESEARCH FORUM
Monday 7th February, 2022
Professor Eric Robertson has recently been invited by the Courtauld Institute to talk on the writer Blaise Cendrars. In focussing on Cendrars’s collaborations with artists Sonia Delaunay and Fernand Léger and in analysing some key examples, this illustrated talk explored some of the most significant ways in which the visual arts shaped Cendrars’s oeuvre.
_____________________________________________________________________________________