Agenda

15 Dec 2025 09:30

"The Beginning and the End of All Natural Scenery". Mountain Experience Before and After Ruskin

Ca' Foscari Spazi Espositivi

On December 15 and 16, 2025, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice will host an international conference dedicated to the representation of the mountain landscape between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with particular attention to the legacy of John Ruskin. The initiative, promoted by the Departmental Research Center FoRS as part of the Excellence Project, proposes adaptation as a key interpretive lens through which to explore the mountain landscape across literature, visual arts, philosophy, natural sciences, and cinema.

The conference opens a wide range of perspectives on Alpine imagination. The keynote lecture by Marcus Waithe (Cambridge University) will offer a Ruskinian reading of Alpine craft and domestic culture. Bettina Faber (Ca’ Foscari) and Elena Polledri (University of Udine) will explore the mountain in the poetry of Hölderlin and Paul Celan.

Among the international guests are scholars such as Howard Hull (Brantwood), Pierre-Henry Frangne (Université Rennes 2), Rachel Dickinson (Guild of St George, Manchester Metropolitan University), Gabriel Meyer (Ruskin Art Club, Los Angeles), William Bainbridge (University of Hertfordshire), Christian Quendler (University of Innsbruck), and Laurence Roussillon-Constanty (Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour), who will engage in dialogue on topics ranging from literature and landscape aesthetics to contemporary cinema and glaciology.

A highlight of the program is the keynote lecture by Professor Luigino Bruni, Full Professor of Economics at LUMSA and renowned biblical scholar, who will present “The Mountain in the Bible” on Monday, December 15, from 5:45 to 6:45 PM, introduced by Professor Ester Brunet.

Throughout the conference, visitors will also be able to view the photography exhibition Ruskin’s Mountains, curated by Martina Frank and Emma Sdegno, in the Ca’ Foscari Exhibition Spaces. The official opening will take place on Monday, December 15 at 4:30 PM. The exhibition features prints of Ruskin’s original daguerreotypes, recently rediscovered and sourced from the Penrith collection of Ken and Jenny Jacobson. Alongside these rare and evocative historical images, contemporary photographic works will be displayed, creating a visual dialogue between past and present.

The event will conclude on Tuesday, December 16 with a conference by glaciologist Jacopo Gabrieli (CNR) and at 6:00 PM with the screening of Werner Herzog’s documentary "Die große Ekstase des Bildschnitzers Steiner" ("The Great Ecstasy of the Woodcarver Steiner", 1974) at the Casa del Cinema.

This initiative is open to scholars, students, mountain enthusiasts, and all those interested in reflecting on the landscape as a space of experience, memory, and transformation.

The conference will be held mainly in English, but some presentations will be given in Italian, French or German (see the poster).

For information and the full programme: Email: fors@unive.it Visit the FoRS Center website: https://www.unive.it/web/en/16185/home

Language

The event will be held in English

Organized by

Dipartimento di Studi Linguistici e Culturali Comparati, ProgettoEccellenzaDSLCC2023

Link

https://www.unive.it/web/en/16185/home

Downloads

Programma 198 KB
Locandina/Poster 899 KB
Locandina mostra 995 KB

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