Annual Postgraduate Symposium 2025/26

Exterior view of the historic Somerset House stone building with ornate architectural details and statues, partially framed by tree branches. 漏 麻豆视频. Photo: Lewis Ronald.

We are delighted to invite you to the 麻豆视频 Institute鈥檚 annual Postgraduate Symposium 2025/2026. Researchers in the final stages of their doctoral degrees will deliver papers emerging out of their research projects. In past years, the event has been a moment for faculty, students and the public to celebrate innovative research.

Organised by Alison Braybrooks and Smaranda Ciubotaru, PhD students at the 麻豆视频.听

30 Apr - 1 May 2026

9:30 - 19:00

Free, booking essential

Vernon Square Campus, Lecture Theatre 2

This event takes place at our Vernon Square campus (WC1X 9EW).

Schedule

Programme Day One

16.00鈥16.30 Registration opens

16.30鈥16.40 Opening remarks and introduction
Alison Braybrooks, Smaranda Ciubotaru, PhD students and symposium organisers

16.40鈥18.20 Panel 1 鈥 Text, Material Dialogue and Ritual

鈥楾ransience and Permanence: The Effigy of Wolfhard of Roth (d. 1302) and the Material Paradox of Death in Metal鈥
Isabella Maoz (Schwarzer)

鈥樷淲ith such colour and embroidery as shall be agreed upon by the entire fellowship鈥: The Parureboek and Ceremonial Dress in Bruges鈥 Confraternity of the Holy Blood鈥
Leylim Erenel

鈥樷渋n order that their fervent devotion may be kindled and God in his creation glorified more often鈥: The Chantry Chapel of Henry V in Westminster Abbey鈥
Sophia Dumoulin

鈥楰eeping it Short (Breviculum): A Pre-History of Comic Strips鈥
Ricardo Mandelbaum Balla

18.20鈥19.30 Drinks Reception
Open to all

Programme Day Two

9.00鈥9.30 Registration opens

9.30鈥9.40 Opening remarks and introduction
Alison Braybrooks, Smaranda Ciubotaru, PhD students and symposium organisers

9.40鈥11.20 Panel 2 鈥 Under the Lens

鈥楻evisiting Varnish Removal: 鈥淕reener鈥 Cleaning Methods for Aged Synthetic Varnishes on Acrylic Emulsion Paint Films鈥
Beatrice Menegaldo

鈥楩rom Materiality to Meaning: An Investigation into the Painting Materials and Techniques of Joan Mir贸 during his Artistic Period in Mallorca (1956-1983)鈥
Mar Gomez

鈥業nterconnected Identities: Applying Machine Learning Analysis to Small-Scale 16th c. Paintings鈥
Tanya Klowden

鈥楿nseen Disegno: The Use of Cartoons in Renaissance Venice鈥
Emma P. Holter

11.20 鈥 11.40 Refreshment Break
Tea and coffee provided

11.40 鈥 13.00 Panel 3 鈥 Architectural Identities

鈥楢rchitectural Ambition: Jacopo de鈥 Pazzi at Santa Croce, Palazzo Pazzi, and the Florentine Badia鈥
Emma Iadanza

鈥楤uilding a 鈥淐ompositional Kit鈥: Records, Copies, and Collaboration in Andrea Palladio鈥檚 Workshop鈥
Alexis Nanavaty

鈥楻elease the Angels: The Use of Stucco in Immersive Religious Spaces in Rome around 1600鈥
Alison Braybrooks

13.00鈥13.40 Lunch break
Provided for participants and organisers

13.40鈥15.00 Panel 4 鈥 Subversive Collectives

鈥楩ree Unions Locked Up: The Paradox of Resistance and the Special Branch Confiscation of a British Surrealist Journal鈥
Christina Childs

鈥樷淟e streghe son tornate鈥: Anti-Institutional Feminists Reimagining Women in 1970s Italy鈥
Veronica Orlandi

鈥楳aud Sulter鈥檚 Early Years: From the Blackwomen鈥檚 Creativity Project to Passion,1982-1990鈥
Zoe Bromberg-McCarthy

15.00鈥16.20 Panel 5 鈥 Nations, Peripheries and Localities

鈥楾hird Cultures: Late Soviet Samizdat in the Practice of Serge Segay and Rea Nikonova鈥
Rada Georgieva

鈥楢 Blackface Knight: The Arthurian Legends, Minstrelsy, and Trans-Atlantic Cultural Exchange, 1860 鈥 1918鈥
Zoe Mercer-Golden

鈥楾he Geological Stripe: Ethel Mairet and the Landscape of Sussex鈥
Alice Dodds

16.20鈥16.40 Refreshment Break
Tea and Coffee Provided

16.40鈥18.00 Panel 6 鈥 Embodied Approaches

鈥楾he Architectonics of Spirit: Galka Scheyer鈥檚 Home-Gallery by Richard Neutra and Gregory Ain, 1934-6鈥
Rachel Denniston

鈥楻esistant Skins: Material Agency in Feminist Painting鈥
Tatjana Schaefer

鈥楶laying with Matches: Exhibiting 葮erbana Dr膬goescu鈥檚 Intermedial Game Across the Iron Curtain鈥
Smaranda Ciubotaru

18.00鈥18.10 Closing Remarks
Klara Kemp-Welch, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art History
and Head of Research Degrees Programme, The 麻豆视频

18.10鈥19.00 Drinks Reception
Open to all

Citations