HomeMiraculous Images in Global Perspectives
Conference, symposiumReligion
Subjects
Published on Monday, June 20, 2022
Abstract
Images are ubiquitous in the world’s religious traditions – even in those traditions in which their creation and veneration have been highly circumscribed or entirely banned. They can serve as objects or expressions of devotion, as pedagogical instruments, as markers of class or status, and as aesthetic productions in their own right. But not all images are held to be equal. In “Miraculous Images in Global Perspective”, we seek to examine in cross-cultural perspective the phenomenon of images that possess supramundane powers or abilities: to perform miracles, emit light, sweat, bleed, move about, heal, protect and at times even to destroy.
Announcement
Presentation
Images are ubiquitous in the world’s religious traditions – even in those traditions in which their creation and veneration have been highly circumscribed or entirely banned. They can serve as objects or expressions of devotion, as pedagogical instruments, as markers of class or status, and as aesthetic productions in their own right. But not all images are held to be equal. In “Miraculous Images in Global Perspective”, we seek to examine in cross-cultural perspective the phenomenon of images that possess supramundane powers or abilities: to perform miracles, emit light, sweat, bleed, move about, heal, protect and at times even to destroy. We seek to shed new light on the nature of materiality, of religious devotion, and of the transmission of ideas and objects within and between cultures and traditions.The conference will address four key interrelated questions: What is a miraculous image? How is knowledge of miraculous images transmitted? How are miraculous images experienced and used? And who authenticates and regulates these miraculous images?
Practical informations
The workshop will be held both face-to-face at the Centre Paul Langevin in Aussois (France) and online on June 21 and 22, 2022.
It is organized by the Groupe Sociétés, Religions, Laïcités (UMR 8582, EPHE/PSL-CNRS, France), the University of Virginia (USA) and the Yale MacMillan Center (USA). Details are (program, speakers' abstracts & poster) enclosed at the end of this mail.
To attend the workshop online, please register at the following address: 21600340@etu.ephe.fr
Program
(French time zone / CEST)
Tuesday 21 June
9:15: Opening
Panel 1 - 9:30-11:50 PM
Chair: Isabelle Charleux
9:30-10:40 Panel 1a – Categories, Conceptualizations, Ontologies
- Megan Holmes (University of Michigan), “The ‘Miraculous Image’ Across Cultures”
- Laurel Kendall (American Museum of Natural History/Columbia University) and Ni Wayan PasekAriati (School for International Training program for Indonesia), “Miraculous or Ordinarily Agentive?A Balinese Temple Mask”
Discussion
10 min.pause
10:50-11:50 Panel 1b – Identity, Authenticity, Authority
- Nicolas Balzamo (University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland), “Locus et Imago: Some Thoughts on theRelationship Between Miraculous Images and the Place of Their Veneration (Western Europe, 11th-17th centuries)”
- Dorothy Wong (University of Virginia), “First Images of the Buddha: the Case of Udayana BuddhaStatues”
Discussion
12h15: Lunch
Panel 2 - 1:30-3:50 PM
Chair: Dorothy Wong
1:30-2:40 Panel 2a –Witness and Tale
- Isabelle Charleux (CNRS/GSRL), “The Power of Place: Miraculous Statues and Apparitions at a Buddhist Pilgrimage Site – Wutai Shan in China”
- Amy Ogden (University of Virginia), “Smashing Idols and Abusing Icons in Old French MiracleNarratives”
Discussion
10 min. pause
2:50-3:50 Panel 2b – Portrait Likeness and Cult
- Julia K. Murray (University of Wisconsin), “Miraculous Portraits of Confucius”
- Cantaura La Cruz (EPHE/GSRL), “From Penicillin to Ointment of Dr. José Gregorio Hernandez.Miraculous Images of the Saint under Construction in Contemporary Venezuela”
Discussion
3:50-4:15 Coffee break
Panel 3 - 4:15-5:25 PM – Materiality, Animacy, Activation
Chair: Megan Holmes
- Samuel C. Morse (Amherst College), “’Living’ Images of Amida in the Late Kamakura Period”
- Murad Khan Mumtaz (Williams College), “Beseeching the Friends of God: Tipu Sultan’s Album ofSaints”
Discussion
Day 1 Conclusion (15 min.)
Wednesday 22 June
Panel 4 - 9:30-11:50 PM
Chair: Julia Murray
9:30-10:40 Panel 4a – Power of Place and Pilgrimage
- Janice Leoshko (UT Austin), “The Power of Place in Defining the Miraculous: The Case of Vajrāsana inIndia”
- Charlotte Lamotte (Centre d’Anthropologie Sociale, Université de Toulouse 2 Jean Jaurès), “Imagesand Objects of Worship in a Japanese Pilgrimage Town: The ‘New Shikoku’ of Sasaguri, Fukuoka,Japan”
Discussion
10 min. pause
10:50-11:50 Panel 4b – Political Entanglements
- Youn-mi Kim (Ewha Womans University Seoul), “Should We Punish Sweating Buddhas? DiscoursesSurrounding the Miraculous Statues in Chosŏn Korea”
- Justin Greenlee (Kenyon College), “The Reliquary Head of Saint Andrew and the Preservation of theMorea”
Discussion
12h15: Lunch
Panel 5 - 1:30-3:05 PM – Beyond Anthropomorphism and Figuration
Chair: Laurel Kendall
- Mimi Yiengpruksawan (Yale University), “Sekidera’s Shiny Black Ox: A Miraculous Image from theAnimal Realm in Medieval Japan”
- Lei Yang (INALCO), “The Sound of Miracles? Stories of the Underground Bells in Late 18th CenturyBeijing”
- Valeria Gazizova (DAAD-GSRL), “Powerful objects, numinous places and distribution of themiraculous: Strategies of religious continuity in a post-atheist context (a case of Kalmykia)”
Discussion
3:05-3:30 Coffee break
Panel 6 - 3:45-5:00 PM – Veneration, Temporality, Modernity
Chair: Amy Ogden
- Pierre-Antoine Fabre (CéSor, Paris), « La fresque de Saint Gilles dans l'église Saint-Nicolas de Civray :image miraculée, image d'un miracle, image miraculeuse ? »
- Jeanne Kormina (Higher School of Economics, Saint Petersburg), “‘The Cup That Cannot Be Emptied’:On Social Life of One Holy Icon in Eastern Christianity”
Discussion
10 min. pause
5:10-6:00 Closing Discussion
Three conferences/meetings are also organized in Paris before and after the workshop:
Friday June 17th, 10am-12pm
Kim Youn-mi(Ewha Womans University, Seoul) « Tracing Transformations of the Buddhist Talisman for Rebirth from Dunhuang to Contemporary Korea »
Room 479C - Grands Moulins - UFR LCAO
Conference organized by Isabelle Charleux (GSRL-EPHE-CNRS-PSL), Alain Arrault (EFEO-CCJ), and Yannick Bruneton (UFR LCAO-Université Paris Cité).
Friday, June 24th, 10am-12pm
Laurel Kendall (anthropologist and curator at the American Museum of Natural History) will present her book Mediums and Magical Things : Statues, Paintings, and Masks in Asian Places.
Laurel Kendall will give a talk entitled: « Comparing Gods and Things – Looking at and Beyond Korea »
GED Auditorium - Espace Françoise Héritier (Condorcet Campus)
Meeting organized by Florence Galmiche (China-Korea-Japan Center) and Bénédicte Brac de la Perrière (Southeast Asia Center), followed by a discussion in the presence of Bénédicte Brac de la Perrière, Florence Galmiche, Michel Picard (CNRS, CASE) and Paul Sorrentino (EHESS, CASE).
Friday, June 24th 15pm-17pm
Dorothy Wong (Virginia University, USA) « Colossal Buddha Statues in China, Past and Present »
INALCO, Maison de la recherche (2, rue de Lille - 75007 Paris) - Auditorium Dumézil
Conference organized by Centre d'études interdisciplinaires sur le bouddhisme (CEIB)
Scientific committee
- Isabelle Charleux,
- Megan Holmes,
- Laurel Kendall,
- Julia Murray,
- Amy Ogden,
- Dorothy Wong,
- Mimi Yiengpruksawan.
Subjects
- Religion (Main category)
- Zones and regions > America
- Periods > Middle Ages
- Zones and regions > Asia
- Periods > Early modern
- Zones and regions > Europe
- Periods > Modern
- Mind and language > Representation
Places
- Centre Paul Langevin, 24 rue du Coin
Aussois, France (73)
Event attendance modalities
Hybrid event (on site and online)
Date(s)
- Tuesday, June 21, 2022
- Wednesday, June 22, 2022
- Friday, June 17, 2022
- Friday, June 24, 2022
Attached files
Keywords
- image, religion
Contact(s)
- Isaline Saunier
courriel : i_saunier [at] hotmail [dot] fr
Reference Urls
Information source
- Isaline Saunier
courriel : i_saunier [at] hotmail [dot] fr
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Miraculous Images in Global Perspectives », Conference, symposium, Calenda, Published on Monday, June 20, 2022, https://doi.org/10.58079/1959
