CHE Fellow Alastair McIntosh curated a Centenary International Conference on the ideas expressed in ‘Concerning the Spiritual in Art’ by Wassily Kandinsky (1911) in Govan, Glasgow on the weekend 21-23rd October 2011.
In October 1911 the Russian artist, Wassily Kandinsky, completed in German the manuscript of a little book that he called “Über das Geistige in der Kunst” – usually translated as Concerning the Spiritual in Art. This webpage sets the context of a small but international centenary celebration conference, Kandinsky in Govan. It will be hosted by community groups in an area of Glasgow that suffers from high unemployment and many social problems, but which retains a powerful community spirit and much artistic talent. Like Kandinsky’s book the conference seeks not to promote “art for art’s sake”, but like the Russian Peredvizhniki school of “wanderers” or “itinerants”, to explore “art as service”. With keynote speakers including leading art experts and the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, we will be exploring how art can speak in places of poverty today. The conference will challenge the narcissistic nihilism of contemporary art forms that have turned their backs on beauty and, perhaps arguably, lost sight of art’s deepest function.
More information: http://alastairmcintosh.com/Kandinsky.htm
Draft Programme PDF: http://alastairmcintosh.com/kandinsky/Kandinsky-in-Govan-Programme.pdf
