Historic Famagusta: A Millennium in Words and Images October 4, 2012

The Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies (CEMS) at Central European University in Budapest and The School of Art, Design and Media (ADM) at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, is pleased to announce Historic Famagusta: A Millennium in Words and Images, a conference held on October 5-6, 2012 at Central European University, Budapest.

From as early as the tenth century a surprisingly large number of travel accounts, histories, poems, fiction narratives, theatre plays, administrative accounts as well as maps, prints and miniatures about Famagusta have come down to us. These texts and images can be found all over Europe and the Near East from the pens and brushes of Christian, Muslim and Jewish authors and artists. The recent resurgence of scholarly interest in pre-1960 Cyprus calls for studies and academic discussions on this vast corpus.

The aim of the conference is to create a platform for historians, art historians, and literary critics to share their studies on textual and visual representations of Famagusta between 1000 CE and 1960. By investigating medieval, early modern and modern Famagusta in text and images, the conference will serve as an opportunity for an interdisciplinary dialogue among the participants, with the hope of broadening perspectives on Famagusta’s cultural and material legacy.

In addition to the anticipated papers relating to art, architecture and history of medieval (Byzantine and Lusignan), early modern (Venetian, and Ottoman), and British Famagusta, the conference organizers would also be keen to include scholars who can explore the following areas relating to studies of the city: music manuscripts (e.g. Donizetti’s La Regina di Cipro), pilgrims’ accounts, diplomats’ accounts, drama (e.g. Dekker’s Old Fortunatus), cartography, prints and paintings, numismatics, tombstones, heraldry, Ottoman poetry (e.g. Namık Kemal), historic photographs, film history (and in particular the making of Exodus), accounts of the Jewish internment camps, Famagusta as a place of exile, the work of Theophilus Mogabgab and William Dreghorn, and Famagusta in the two world wars.

Those wishing to participate should contact the conference organizers as soon as possible to register interest. Abstracts of 200-250 words should be sent via e-mail by June 30 (2011). In October (2011) successful candidates will be notified a full year in advance of the conference (October 2012). Specific, thematically aligned papers will also be selected for an edited book of the same name.

Limited travel bursaries are available for participants without a university affiliation.

Conference information provided by konferenciakalauz.hu

Official Website: http://cems.ceu.hu/events/2012-10-05/historic-famagusta-a-millennium-in-words-and-images