Renata Novak Klemencic

After World War II, the art and architecture of Istrian towns Koper/Capodistria, Izola/Isola and Piran/Pirano, were seldom in the focus of Slovenian, Croatian and Italian art historians. Still, in 2018, fifty years will have passed since the publication of the influential book by Stane Bernik on urban history of Koper, Izola and Piran (Organizem slovenskih obmorskih mest: Koper, Izola, Piran). 35 years have passed since the census of painting from the 15 th to the 19 th century by Tomaž Brejc (Slikarstvo od 15. do 19. stoletja na Slovenski obali) and roughly two decades since the exhibition on Gothic art of the Diocese of Koper (Dioecesis Justinopolitana) and the project of University of Trieste that resulted in two books on Istrian heritage (Istria. Città minori and Istria. Città maggiori). These and other publications increased research interest in the art and architecture commissioned by the elite of Istrian cities. Since 2005, a group of paintings and sculptures from the churches and collections of Koper, Izola and Piran are exhibited in Trieste (currently in Museo Sartorio), after decades of uncertainty about their fate. However, the protection of cultural heritage in the three Istrian towns remains a pressing problem. During the years of large financial investments into the construction of shopping malls in the suburbs, it was rarely possible to find resources for even urgently needed restoration works in the historical city centres. Even the postwar modernist architecture, which often carelessly intruded into the medieval city structures, is undergoing improper renovation. All this might be partially a result of insufficient evaluation of cultural heritage, or at least poor dissemination of the current art historical state-of-research. For this reason, the Slovenian Association of Art Historians would like to encourage local and international art historians to present their current research on art and architecture of northern Istrian towns of Koper, Izola and Piran, and on the wider context within and beyond the borders of the former Venetian Republic, or later historical and political Habsburg, Italian, Yugoslav and Slovenian periods. Paper proposals (300 words) with a short CV (150 words) should be sent to suzd@suzd.si by 1 June 2018. Papers should not exceed the length of 20 minutes of public presentation. For the symposium proceedings, to be published in 2019, longer elaborations will be accepted. Conference participation is free of charge, but the organisers will not cover travel and accommodation costs.