Matter and materiality are inherent to the conception, production, and interpretation of artifacts in all cultures across all periods of time. In recent decades these notions have given rise to theoretical reflections, including a rethinking of the hylemorphic model (form/matter opposition). A world is open to us in which matter is no longer fixed and inert but in motion, in the grip of infinite transformations, a world of flux (G. Deleuze, T. Ingold), where vital matter is endowed with agency (J. Bennett). Materiality, resulting from the effect produced by the properties of matter, is grasped within environments and contexts of reception that are also changing and have nothing fixed or definitive.

The material conception of works of art confers complementary properties and values upon the resulting objects. These properties are manifested through the effects of texture, surfaces, weight, extension in space, format, gestural traces, and material effects. The concept of materiality therefore refers to the fact that the artifacts which concern art history are composed of materials and, at a theoretical level, to all the processes — technical, cultural and social — that undergird the realization and the material perception of works of art.

It is in this spirit that the theme chosen for the 36th CIHA congress is intended. Our theme thus provides an opportunity for fruitful intercultural and interdisciplinary dialogue on questions that promote a transversal perspective at the intersection of approaches and methodologies.