Art and Society. Ancient and Modern Contexts of Egyptian Art

In the invitation a wide range of subjects were proposed to discuss, including both theoretical and practical approaches:
• The study of ancient Egyptian art: historiography, methods, theoretical approaches
• Definitions, terminologies and classifications (ancient and modern/current): definitions of terms referring to the notions ‘art’ and ‘artist’, classifications and hierarchies of forms of art, genres and boundaries between genres, the validity of both Egyptian and modern/current terminologies and categories
• Art and power: control of art, restrictions to access to art, the impact of changes in power relations and structures on artistic representation and production 
• Themes of art; what is displayed and what is not; the role of art in shaping and representing social identities, ideologies and beliefs 
• Artistic expression: contexts of making and modifying rules; traditions and changes in form and content; the (changing) interplay of visual, spatial, and textual arts
• Art and social realities: diff erent socio-cultural contexts and traditions of art, art and economy, centre and periphery, networks of connection
• Participation in art: patronage; commissioning; customers; training, knowledge, and social status of producers of works of art; social behaviour of participants
• Artistic production: institutions, corporations of producers of works of art, artistic media, quantity and quality of works of art, elite and ‘mass’ production, workshops and styles, technologies
• Egyptian art in later societies (ancient and modern/contemporary): Egyptian art as a resource for later artistic expression, ideologies, and construing identities; socio-cultural backgrounds for collecting and displaying Egyptian antiquities