Sat 9 Oct, 2021
What is it to be an art historian today, and where does this happen? These are the questions that alumna Sophie Berrebi will address in her talk. A born Parisian transplanted to London from where she took French leave to settle in Amsterdam in 2003, Berrebi has published and curated extensively since her student days, taking an interdisciplinary perspective to address areas including post-war European art, contemporary art, photography and video, post-colonial theory, and more recently, fashion. Taking her two recently published books The Shape of Evidence, and Entrée en matière, as starting points, she will reflect on her trajectory and discuss spaces of art writing, authorial voice, interdisciplinary thinking, and turning 40.
Sophie Berrebi (Paris, 1973) came to the Courtauld Institute to study in Sarah Wilson’s M.A program on post-war European art and theory. After a year spent working at the Pompidou with Georges Didi-Huberman, she resumed her studies at the Courtauld, working on a PhD while publishing in Frieze. A year at the University of Leeds followed, from which she joined the University of Amsterdam where she is now associate professor. Aside from art criticism and academic articles, she published The Shape of Evidence. Contemporary art and the Document, in 2014. Her edited book of writings by Jean Dubuffet and Hubert Damisch, Entrée en matière appeared in French in 2016, and was preceded by a partial translation in English in the journal October, issue 154. She is now at work on a new book entitled Elements of Fashion: Icons, Details, Gestures and a focused exhibition series called Platform: Body/Space for the New Institute in Rotterdam.
Breakfast, tea, coffee and Buck’s Fizz will be provided.
Please RSVP to alumni@courtauld.ac.uk.