Meetings and Workshops of the Gotha Research Centre

On the periphery? European Women Writers of the Early Modern Period to the Present Day

Organisation: Dr. Corinna Dziudzia (Erfurt/Gotha) and Professor Dr. Kirsten von Hagen (Gießen)

Online study days: 2 November, 14 December, 11 January, 8 February, will take place on Thursday mornings via Webex

The study days aim to use specific examples to ask, among other things, there is still need for rediscovery and re-discovery with regard to women writers and what the dynamics of forgetting or systematic processes of exclusion and marginalisation might be. Can we really observe a re-consolidation of the canon (Stefan Neuhaus & Uta Schaffers) - or why does the knowledge about women writers, scholars and artists often seem weak, implicit, marginal and peripheral? Or (to use Robert Proctor's words) do we repress or ignore what we could actually know?

Registrations are kindly requested.

Natural Law, Politics and the Reform of Society: Johann Christian Boineburg

The scholar and diplomat Johann Christian von Boineburg and his political work will be the subject of a conference organised by Professor Martin Mulsow (Erfurt/Gotha) and Professor Gábor Gángó (Budapest) at the Gotha Research Centre from 30 November to 1 December. József Simon (Szeged), Stefanie Ertz (Berlin/Gotha), Mikkel Jensen (Rostock/Gotha), Michael Kempe (Hanover) and Hannes Amberger (Berlin) will mainly examine Boineburg's correspondence and books annotated by him.

Registrations are kindly requested.

Conference programme

From Cabinets to Museums: Exploring the Histories of Chinese Collections in Europe

Artfully embroidered slippers from the Chinese Collection Scl — From the Chinese Collection. Inv. no. ETH14S © Friedenstein Castle Foundation Gotha

International Workshop

Organisation: Dr Emily Teo

Date: 10 and 11 January 2024

Venue: Gotha Research Centre/ Friedenstein Castle Foundation

Throughout the eighteenth century, East Asian objects were acquired by European collectors for a variety of reasons: to decorate homes or as a source of knowledge about foreign cultures. The workshop will bring together academics and curators to explore the complex history of Chinese collections in European contexts.

The workshop will focus on the East Asian collection in Gotha. Around 1800, Duke August of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1772-1822) founded the Chinese Cabinet, a collection of East Asian objects in Gotha's Friedenstein Castle. The rich and varied collection included over 2000 objects, such as reverse glass paintings, lacquer works, watercolour albums, clothing, household objects and musical instruments.

Topics of the two-day workshop include the global circulation of artworks, China fashion in 18th century Europe, and the practices of collecting and displaying Chinese objects in European collections. The aim of the workshop is to historicise these collections and explore their contexts in order to give new impetus to research on East Asian collections in Europe.

The language of the event is English.

Wissenswelten – Arbeitstagung der AG "Frühe Neuzeit" 2024 in Gotha

Die 15. Arbeitstagung der AG Frühe Neuzeit unter dem Thema "WissensWelten" wird vom 19.–21. September 2024 in Gotha stattfinden, Ausrichter ist das Forschungszentrum.