END OF THE OLD ART MODULE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE ART READINGS 2026. CHRONOS AND TOPOS. 16–18 APRIL, INSTITUTE OF ART STUDIES, BULGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Throughout last week, 41 scientists from 8 countries participated in the program of the International Scientific Conference Art Readings 2026, Old Art Module: from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Canada, Poland, Romania, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The reports could be followed online in real time, and a video archive of the meetings is available on the Institute of Art Studies' YouTube channel.
 
The conference began with a presentation on the possibilities of the latest technologies and their application in support of archaeology, art history, and the reconstruction of destroyed monuments. The majority of the presentations were devoted to the cultural heritage of the Balkans, but some also focused on the art of Western Europe and the Far East. During the scientific sessions, unpublished works from Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Ottoman period, and the Renaissance were shown and discussed for the first time. Conceptual issues of time and space (chronos, keros, eon, chronotopes, hierotopes, dichrony, dytopia, etc.) were interpreted in the context of examples from architecture, sculpture, fine art, book miniature, and epigraphy. The themes of the afterlife, the Last Judgement, Heaven, and Hell were addressed by various scholars in the Christian, Islamic, and Zoroastrian traditions.
 
The reports in the first two sessions focused on monuments from Antiquity and Early Christianity (Alexandrovo, Deultum, Serdika, Zaldapa, Sozopol, Niš, etc.). Emphasis was placed on the continuity of the eras and the use of spolia – the reuse of pagan architectural structures and elements in a new, Christian context.
 
Within the theoretical framework of chronos and topos, during the following sessions, monuments of church art from different regions of the Balkans, spanning the Middle Ages to the 19th century, were analysed. Several studies were devoted to the cultural and historical heritage of the Bulgarian Zograf Monastery on Mount Athos.
 
The presented monuments of church art illustrated the close connection between the liturgical perception of time and its visual language. The distinction between ‘historical’ and ‘liturgical’ time, derived from liturgical texts and practice, was clarified. The depiction of real time and space was related to symbolic and liturgical time (chronos) and space (topos) through idealistic "a-topia" and eschatological time.
 
All sessions ended with lively discussions, exchanges of scientific ideas, and prospects for cooperation.
 
The International Scientific Forum 'Art Readings 2026. Chronos and Topos' is being held with the financial support of the Scientific Research Fund, contract No. КП-06-МНФ/37 dated 12.12.2025.
The conference is being held in partnership with the National Gallery.

© Photographer: Yulia Staneva