 ICDAD

Submission deadline: 15 May 2023

“Ornament is not only produced by criminals; it itself commits a crime,” So said architect and designer Adolf Loos in his 1910 lecture-turned-essay “Ornament and Crime,” where he described the effort in designing and creating ornaments as superfluous and wasteful and helped to set the stage for the minimalist, stripped-down forms that would shape modern architecture and design for much of the twentieth century. More than fifty years later, postmodern designers rejected the strict functionalism of modern design, with Robert Venturi declaring, “more is more, less is a bore,” and Ettore Sottsass poetically describing decoration as “a state of mind, an unusual perception, a ritual whisper.”

 The debate over ornament—what is its purpose, what should it look like, how should it be applied, and is it even necessary at all—chronologically and geographically transcends any of these figures and is in fact as old as the field of decorative arts itself. Skilled craftspeople have been producing ornament-laden decorative arts for more than a millennia. Throughout the world, cultures have developed complex relationships to ornament, making it an ideal topic for ICDAD’s 2023 annual meeting. 

This year’s ICDAD conference invites papers that consider the many dimensions of ornament and its multiple roles in decorative arts and design. For instance, what is its role today? How have relationships to decoration evolved over periods of time?  What are its social and political functions? Does ornament enhance or obscure meaning and use? How do different cultures address ornament and decoration, and where have they served as a connector between communities? How does decoration function in global art history, and how might the approaches taken by artists and makers in non-western countries illuminate alternative relationships to ornament? 

Lisbon is an interesting site for this productive dialogue; a city marked by its centuries-old tradition of decorative tile as well as gilded and polychrome wood carving. Lisbon is also the home of present-day designers rethinking associations to material and aesthetics. The ICDAD meeting in Lisbon will take full advantage of this fertile ground, visiting significant historical sites and museums throughout the city and the surroundings while engaging with contemporary collections and makers. 

The after conference tour shall be to Coimbra and Porto, in the north of Portugal, on 13 and 14 October.

For information on how to apply please click here.

ICDAD elections for the next 2023-2025 triannium took place on the xoyondo.com platform this year, immediately following the GEneral Meeting on 16 November 2022. THe voting poll closed on 23 November 2022 at 9 PM Paris time. Annamarie Sendecki and Rosita Nenno (both former board members) supervised the election. 

The results are: 

Melissa Rinne has been elected board chair. We received 61 valid votes, 56 yes and 5 abstentions. Melissa has accepted the vote and will be installeda s the new Chair for ICDAD. NOTE: From the 88 entries, not all were valid or eligible (e.g. double entry not an ICDAD voting member). 

9 candidates ran for 7 general board member posts. We received 68 valid votes, with no abstentions. The newly elected board members for the triannium 2023-2025 in alphabetical order are: 

• Sarah Chasse
• Mariàngels Fondevila
• Denise Hagströmer
• Kaja Muszyńska
• Eva van Regenmortel 
• Anika Reineke
• Shoshana Resnikoff

All board members have accepted their roles, and ICDAD thanks all candidates for their time and interest in serving. 

Note: there have been 110 entries from 83 people, with some double/triple entries due to the new online voting process. Not all were members or voting members of ICDAD .The supervisors checked the eligibility of all voters with the help of the ICOM Secretariat. 

The work of the board will begin in January 2023. 

Please join ICDAD for the annual General Assembly on 16 November 2022! The meeting is at 14.00 (2.00 PM) Paris time. 

You will learn about the International Committee's activities this past year, get an update on the Prague meeting, and hear from candidates for the ICDAD board. You will also get a preview of the 2023 conference in Lisbon and the opportunity to learn about possible future meeting locations. If you are a member of ICDAD in good standing, you will have received a link to the Zoom meeting in a recent email. We look forward to seeing you there! 

The Latvian National Museum of Art and Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Riga invite entries from artists for the 7th Riga International Textile and Fiber Art Triennial. 

The theme is "Quo Vadis?" ("Where are you going?") and the deadline for artist submissions is October 1, 2022. The Triennial will be held concurrently at the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design and the Art Museum Riga Bourse concurrently from June through September 2023. Click below for more information and for the entry form. 

ICOM Prague 2022 is almost upon us! The ICDAD programme has been finalized, and is available below. We thank all applicants for their abstracts! All three ICDAD sessions will be presented both online and on-site. If you are considering joining, please do so! Registration is still open.
 
You can find further programme information here: https://prague2022.icom.museum/committees-meetings and here: https://icomprague2022.gcon.me/programme. Furthermore, enrich your Prague experience by participating in excursions to member institutions within the Czech Republic! See here for more information: https://prague2022.icom.museum/excursions.

ICDAD PROGRAMME

22 August 2022, 16:00–17:30 - ICDAD Session

Session Moderator: Anika Reineke

The Art of Collecting and Exploring the Collection: From Past Crafts to Its Design for the Future
Nirit Shalev Khalifa
curator, Art historian
Yad Ben-Zvi Institute, Museum council, Ben Gurion university , Har Hadar, Israel

Collecting Ideas: Historic Objects for Contemporary Audiences
Shoshana Resnikoff
Curator
The Wolfsonian-FIU, Miami Beach, Florida, United States

What is missing? On the power of NOT collecting and NOT exhibiting.
Claudia Banz
Curator Design
Kunstgewerbemuseum - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

23 August 2022, 14:30 – 16:00 – ICDAD/COSTUME/GLASS Joint Session

Session Moderator: Kai Lobjakas

Polish Design Polish Designers. The Power of Collection
Anna Śliwa
Curator
Muzeum Miasta Gdyni (Gdynia City Museum), Gdynia, Poland

The Influence of Martin Battersby
Martin Pel
Curator of Fashion and Textiles
Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove, United Kingdom

The Pforzheimer Collection of Studio Glass joins the Peabody Essex Museum’s Two Century Glass Collection
Sarah Chasse
Associate Curator
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, United States

23 August 2022, 16:30–18:00 – ICDAD Session

Session Moderator: Melissa Rinne

From room to portrait. The furniture in the photography and painting collections of the National Palace of Ajuda
Maria Jose Gaivao Tavares
Furniture Curator
National Palace of Ajuda, Lisbon, Portugal

Imagining Guangzhou: James Drummond's Chinese Painted Wallpaper at the Peabody Essex Museum
Lan Morgan
Assistant Curator
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, United States

A palace for everybody: the afterlife of decorative arts
Maria Isabel Baldasarre
National Director of Museums
National Ministry of Culture (Ministerio de Cultura de la Nacion), Buenos Aires, Argentina

The power of wallpaper: turning a farm into a palace and a modest collection into one of international recognition
Helen Bieri Thomson
Head
Swiss National Museum - Château de Prangins, Prangins, Switzerland

25 August 2022, 9:00-18.00 – Off-Site Meeting

Uměleckoprůmyslové museum v Praze / Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague

Address: 17. listopadu 2/2, 110 00 Praha

· Round Table Discussion
· Visit to the museum's newly built depository building
· Dinner at UMP

We are looking forward to seeing you in Prague!