Internationalism and Cultural Exchange 1870-1920 (ICE)
The research network ‘Internationalism and Cultural Exchange, 1870-1920’ (ICE) is an interdisciplinary project which explores the interface between internationalism and the arts at a seminal historical moment.
It brings together academics and curators from across the world to debate the problems and possibilities of artistic and cultural exchange and encounter in the period, and to explore the implications of ‘transnational history’ for teaching, research and display in the arts and humanities.
About ICE
The years 1870–1920 were characterised by national consolidation, empire-building and catastrophic war. As part of the same process of collective encounter and self-definition, they were also marked by international cooperation, proposals for world government, and transnational communities which challenged the normative nature of the nation state. The arts were undoubtedly central to the formation of national identities, and cultural practitioners (artists, writers, musicians, dramatists) were expected to shore up national traditions.
However, their lives were often cosmopolitan and their practices shaped by cross-cultural collaboration.ICE takes the constituents of nationality (place, race, language, religion, institutions, education etc) and asks:
- what alternatives were proposed by cultural internationalists working at the turn of the twentieth century?
- what imagined communities did they build to cross national boundaries?
- What were their sites of operation?
- how did they communicate?
- what infrastructures did they develop?
- what beliefs or practices held them together?
- what histories did they construct for themselves?
- what futures did they project?
Such questions reconfigure the historical discussion, bringing to bear new connections and interpretations, and a wealth of new material. They also shift disciplinary categories, encouraging scholars to think outside the terms imposed by national schools, towards a more fluid and inclusive understanding of cultural identity.
Who we are
ICE is an interdisciplinary, collaborative research network run by Dr Grace Brockington (University of Bristol) and Dr Sarah Victoria Turner (University of York) with the support of colleagues in universities, galleries and museums across the globe.
The network aims to be as inclusive as possible, building its own interdisciplinary community of scholars who share an interest in crossing boundaries between subjects as well as between countries.
Future plans
- A series of workshops (held in the UK and in other countries via video conferencing) which will explore key themes for ICE, such as The Sites of Internationalism (exhibitions, performances, journals, touring pictures etc, Verbal and Non-Verbal Translations), Cultural Cosmopolitans, and Art, Journeys and Exile.
- An international conference
- A series of publications based on the workshops and conference
- An interactive website
Previous ICE Events:
- ‘Internationalism and the Arts: Anglo-European Cultural Exchange at the Fin de Siècle’ (Cambridge, 4–6 July 2006)
- ‘Exploring Art History and Internationalism’ (York Centre for Modern Studies/ Department of History of Art, University of York, 30 January 09)
- ‘Crossings and Transgressions: Exploring Internationalism and Interdisciplinarity, 1870–1920’ (Bristol Institute for Advanced Studies, 9 July 09)
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'Sites of Internationalism at the Fin de Siècle: Between Metropolis and Cosmopolis' (Northumbria, 9 September 2010)