Location
Warwick's Palazzo in Venice on the Grand Canal
Conference | Warwick’s Palazzo, Venice | 27-28 March 2025
The Cultural Legacies of Corruption in Europe, 1500 – Today
Call for Papers, deadline – 31 October 2024
This interdisciplinary conference addresses the material, literary and visual culture associated with ‘corruption’ (broadly conceived). Relatively little attention has been paid to these dimensions of corrupt practices: to the actual gifts given as bribes (from tankards given to electors through to silver plate and even animals), to the various material, artistic and cultural forms of public displays of corrupt wealth (houses and estates, dress, luxury items such as jewellery etc), and to the literary and visual representations of corruption (in novels, in periodicals, in textual and graphic satires and prints etc). Nor has there been much debate about how to curate material bought or created with ‘corrupt’ money and how explain it to modern audiences. This workshop aims to create an interdisciplinary forum for researchers, seeking to bring together historians of all stripes, literary critics, art historians, the heritage sector and others.
We welcome proposals of ca. 500 words (for 20 minute presentations) concerning these topics, to be submitted, along with a short CV, by the end of Thursday 31 October. The submissions should be sent to historyofcorruption@warwick.ac.uk.
It is hoped that the contributions presented during the workshop might be collected for publication and the intention is to hold the conference in Venice, at Warwick’s palazzo on the Grand Canal, though it is possible that the venue might have to be changed to Warwick University’s campus if Venice proves unviable because of numbers. If held in Venice or Warwick, part of the cost of meals and refreshments (which will be subsidised for speakers) will be covered by a registration fee and delegates’ accommodation will also be subsidised (and bookable via Warwick) but delegates will need to organise and pay for their own travel.
There will be up to five bursaries for PhD students of £150.
Further details are to be found at https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/ecc/news/cfp/
Organisers: Prof Dr Mark J. Knights (University of Warwick); Dr Ricard Torra-Prat (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Image: © The Trustees of the British Museum