Jenny Albani

Λαγογιάννη-Γεωργακαράκου, Μ. και Τζ. Αλμπάνη. Η χρήση και η διαχείριση πολιτιστικών,  αρχαιολογικών χώρων.  Η περίπτωση των «Πράσινων Πολιτιστικών Διαδρομών»., Αθήνα 2012. Ημερίδα: Ανθρωπογενές Περιβάλλον & Αειφόρος Διαχείριση. Διοργάνωση Mediterranean Education Initiative for Environment & Sustainability (MEdIES) και Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE) - 2012-2013 for Greece. 
            http://www.medies.net/_uploaded_files/desd_manmade_2012/lagogianni.pdf

A century separates us from the “rupture of history” and the historical ambiguities that the early heroic modernism introduced in the urban space, and eighty years from the destruction of the European monumental deposit from the bombings of WWII, a defining moment for the introduction of new kinds of monumentality alongside the old ones. Yet, monumentality still emerges as a major spatial, aesthetic, symbolic, architectural and archaeological phenomenon. In a climate of pessimism in present day western cities, which are dealing with an increasingly precarious present, due to  economic and other forms of instability, the durability of monumentality as “urban permanence” (the famous Aldo Rossi concept), appears to be among the few remaining symbolic and spatial rocks and as such is needed, maintained, enhanced, landscaped and even invented. 

The international conference “On Monumentality”, to be held in the Acropolis Museum, Athens, 4-6 of April, 2019, will explore the following relevant dimensions of monumentality and the monumental both in the European urban and peripheral space and also of cities/countries globally:
• Old, new and emergent kinds of monumentality
• Struggles around monumentality formation: Social, symbolic and political aspects
• Aesthetics of monumentality’s protection
• The economic and developmental aspects of monumentality
• Monumentality in the urban space and the “natural”/regional landscape
• Scales of the monumental
In the above context proposals of papers were submitted from architects, archaeologists, urban planners, urban and cultural geographers, art theorists and historians, social anthropologists and other relevant theorists.

International Conference "On Monumentality" (Athens, The Acropolis Museum, 4 - 6 April 2019).  Programme, Abstracts of Papers, CVs of Participants. Organizing Committee: Argyro Loukaki, Dimitris Plantzos, Konstantinos Soueref, Jenny Albani, Dionysis Mourelatos, and Stavros Alifragkis.

A century separates us from the " rupture of history " and the historical ambiguities that the early heroic modernism introduced in the urban space, and eighty years from the destruction of the European monumental deposit from the bombings of WWII, a defining moment for the introduction of new kinds of monumentality alongside the old ones. Yet, monumentality still emerges as a major spatial, aesthetic, symbolic, architectural and archaeological phenomenon. In a climate of pessimism in present day western cities, which are dealing with an increasingly precarious present, due to economic and other forms of instability, the durability of monumentality as " urban permanence " (the famous Aldo Rossi concept), appears to be among the few remaining symbolic and spatial rocks and as such is needed, maintained, enhanced, landscaped and even invented.

Byzantium in Change: 
Art, Archaeology and Society in the 13th c.

Convenors: Jenny Albani (Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Hellenic Open University)
        Ioanna Christoforaki (Academy of Athens)

The year 1204, when Byzantium was conquered by the participants of the Fourth Crusade, marks a major and violent change on several levels, including politics and the economy, society and religion, as well as art and culture. The once powerful empire experienced both the humiliation of foreign occupation and its political subjugation. After its re-establishment in 1261, Byzantium had become a shrunken state, surrounded by aggressive enemies, while a number of its vital areas, such as Crete, Cyprus and the Ionian islands remained under foreign rule. These changes influenced not only the artistic output but the everyday life of the Byzantines as well. New ideas, new preferences and new techniques are attested in architecture, painting, sculpture and minor arts, all of which developed a new dynamic.

Although the changes which occurred during the thirteenth century, both in archaeology and society, have been examined in the past, a re-evalution of old and new data, combined with a fresh look on recent archaeological finds, is long overdue. The Thematic Session, entitled Byzantium in Change. Art, Archaeology and Society in the 13th c., aims to provide a well-rounded and balanced overview of this troubled century, by examining the transformations created and developed within the new framework of co-existence among Byzantines, Latins, Slavs and Ottomans. The main focus will be on architecture, painting and material culture, as attested in key political entities of the now fragmented Byzantine territory.

The participants in the Thematic Session, chosen to represent both established and younger scholars from Greece and abroad, are art and architectural historians, material culture experts and field archaeologists. They have been asked to explore issues relating to the artistic expression of the encounter between Byzantium and the West; the continuity, change or adaptation of artistic trends before and after 1204, both in urban centres and the countryside; and the archaeological testimonies for interaction, opposition or symbiosis, both on official and local levels.

A century separates us from the " rupture of history " and the historical ambiguities that the early heroic modernism introduced in the urban space, and eighty years from the destruction of the European monumental deposit from the bombings of WWII, a defining moment for the introduction of new kinds of monumentality alongside the old ones. Yet, monumentality still emerges as a major spatial, aesthetic, symbolic, architectural and archaeological phenomenon. In a climate of pessimism in present day western cities, which are dealing with an increasingly precarious present, due to economic and other forms of instability, the durability of monumentality as " urban permanence " (the famous Aldo Rossi concept), appears to be among the few remaining symbolic and spatial rocks and as such is needed, maintained, enhanced, landscaped and even invented.