What role do images play in the creation of social worlds? On the intercontinental histories of art and culture, based on Aby Warburg.
What are the consequences of distinctions between “literate” and “oral” societies, between “image” and “script”? New research approaches undermine the colonial and Eurocentric classifications that impeded the fulfillment of Warburg’s promise of an intercontinental art history and image theory. The discussions center on a new way of understanding “image systems.” Archeologist David Wengrow describes them as the symbolic organization of social worlds that enabled specific cultural techniques and ways of life. In talks and presentations, theorists and artists develop new methods for understanding such systems.