Since 1945, the world’s metropolises have undergone both growth and decline. These developments have brought not only economic and social change, but also cultural transformations that have found their reflection in all artistic media. The physical and mental city has proven a fertile breeding ground for the visual arts, film, graphic design, and the written word. Furthermore, while cities continue to generate and project a unique identity, they have also become globalized commodities in themselves. The products of these interactions and their precise mechanisms are the subjects of this conference. How have artists, filmmakers, designers and writers dealt with the singularity, complexity and diversity of their surroundings? In what ways does the metropolis contribute to their work? How have they absorbed and transformed their various environments? And how do these works alter the city and our perception of it? What role does contemporary “city branding” play and how does a city “remember”?

Art and the City: A Conference on Postwar Interactions with the Urban Realm will bring together around 40 international scholars for a two-day symposium on this important topic, among them Malcom Miles (UK), M. Christine Boyer (US), and Thomas A.P. van Leeuwen (NL).