18th Congress of the Association Internationale pour l’Histoire du Verre
Thessaloniki, Greece
21-25 September 2009
First Circular and Call for Papers (PDF)
Report of the 17th Congress
The 17th Congress of the International Association for the History of Glass (AIHV) was held September 4-8, 2006 in Antwerp, Belgium, at the invitation of Verre-Glas, the Belgian National Committee of AIHV. There were 196 members registered. The Congress opened on Monday with a talk by the President, Marie-Dominique Nenna, “Fifty Years of AIHV”. Dr. Nenna also introduced Madame Joseph Philippe, the widow of the founder of AIHV, who was in attendance.
The aim of the triennial congresses of AIHV is to bring together archaeologists, art-historians, glass collectors and glass technologists, and museum curators to discuss the socio-economic and socio-cultural aspects of glass use throughout history, as well as the development of the technology of glass-making, glass working and glass decorative art throughout history. The Conference was held in the “Elzenveld” conference center, in the center of Antwerp and was also sponsored by the universities of Antwerp, Leuven and Brussels and the department of excavations of the City of Antwerp. Professor Koen Janssens, of the University of Antwerp was Chairman of the Organizing Committee.
There were 14 sessions on different aspects of glass history, each with a keynote speech and several papers, a total of 84 talks. Forty poster contributions were on display throughout the Congress. An elegant opening reception was held at the Antwerp Town Hall on Monday evening, and after the General Meeting on Tuesday afternoon, participants were invited to an organ concert at the Cathedral of Our Lady in the center of Antwerp. The Cathedral has beautiful stained glass windows. On Wednesday afternoon, there were several themed tours for attendees (one focusing on the painter, Peter Paul Rubens, another called the Golden Age of Antwerp and one to the diamond workshops, for example) followed by the Congress Dinner in the Marble Hall of the Antwerp Zoological Gardens, and on Thursday, Congress participants were invited to a preview of an exhibit of Contemporary Belgian Glass at the Kolveniershof. The meeting closed at noon on Friday, September 8 and was followed by a Post-Congress tour, September 9-13, to museums and private collections in Belgium and Luxembourg.
Report of the 16th Congress
The 16th congress of the AIHV was held in London from September 7th to 13th, 2003 based at Imperial College in South Kensington. 225 delegates from 25 countries attended and 125 presentations were given in 24 lecture and two poster sessions. The abstracts of the papers are available on the conference web site www.historyofglass.org.uk. On the Wednesday there was the opportunity to visit museums and galleries in London and on the Saturday there were trips outside of London. Two coachloads of delegates went to Oxford visiting the Ashmolean Museum and stained glass in various colleges. Another coach went to Colchester to look at the Roman material in and around that town.
There was a very active social programme as well. On the Monday evening we visited the Fine Art Society at the invitation of the Guild of Glass Engravers to see an exhibition of their work. On Tuesday there was a reception at the Wallace Collection sponsored by Christie’s to see the Glass Circle’s exhibition From Palace to Parlour: A Celebration of 19th-Century British Glass. On Thursday evening we went to The House of Commons at the invitation of Hugh Bayley MP for a reception on the Members’ Terrace. On Friday evening we were invited by Bonhams to their showrooms to see the contents of the Harveys Glass Museum which will soon be auctioned. Finally on the Saturday night there was a Farewell Party at the Society of Antiquaries.
The organising committee would like to thank everyone who came for making this such an enjoyable occasion. (Nearly) all the speakers kept to their allotted time, the posters were very well prepared, the staff at Imperial College made the practicalities of organising such a large event as painless as possible, the sponsors of the receptions generously plied us with champagne, our hosts in the museums and galleries laid on fascinating tours – and even the weather was good!