ASMOSIA’s mission is to promote the exchange among its members in all fields related to the study of marble and other stones of art historical or archaeological interest. This exchange is accomplished through electronic communications, biannual meetings of the membership, and publication of the meeting proceedings.
ASMOSIA XIII – President’s Report
This report comes after our last ASMOSIA conference (ASMOSIA XIII) held at Vienna in 19-24 September 2022. It was 4 years after the previous gathering, the 12th ASMOSIA conference, at Izmir in 2018. The long interval was inevitably imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. This conference also comes 34 years after the very first meeting at Il Ciocco Hotel, near Luna in Italy, organized by the pioneers Norman Herz and Marc Waelkens, where ASMOSIA was founded as an official Association.
The splendid Vienna meeting was organized jointly by the Austrian Archaeological Institute (of the Austrian Academy of Science) and the Greek and Roman Antiquities curator of Vienna Art History Museum with principal organisers Walter Prochaska, Sabine Ladstätter and Georg Plattner and with the help of the conference secretaries Vassiliki Anevlavi and Astrid Pircher. The meeting took place inside the Art History (Kunsthistoriches) Museum, a perfect environment for an ASMOSIA meeting. The oral sessions were held in the spacious auditorium of the Museum and the poster sessions in the space just outside it. There were about 160 participants in this meeting coming from about 20 different countries. Among them 24 students, the hope of the next generation, whose registration fee was waived by the organisers. About 140 papers were presented, divided into about 70 orals and 70 posters, all of good quality and interest. Special lectures were given by Irene Bald Romano and Christopher J. Lyes. A special theme session focused on “Production and trade of marble and other stones in the Alpine and Danube provinces – regional resources and Mediterranean imports”. And as always, the Norman Herz prizes were awarded to two best student posters (see names and posters separately).
Coffees were served by the posters with cookies and sweets coming from Naxos island! Dining in the Museum restaurant and the nearby restaurants gave the opportunity for meetings and discussion between groups.
Apart from the scientific program there were also quite enjoyable social events such as the Welcome Reception at the Aula of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Reception at the Vienna Town Hall, and the Conference Dinner at the traditional restaurant, former monastery, “Melker Stiftskeller”. Also, on Wednesday afternoon there were educational tours to Vienna interesting spots, including a visit to the Ephesos Museum.
The Vienna Conference gave us the opportunity to meet again and exchange views, ideas and collaborations in a wonderful cultural environment of the Vienna City and the Art History Museum itself. Our members having now become almost like a family that apart from their scholarly interest consider these meetings as a warm reunion of friends and colleagues, a refreshing and regenerating event.
After 34 years of ASMOSIA the work in the field has to exhibit a vast number of significant advances regarding the discovery of new quarries, provenance determination of thousands of objects of different periods, new methodologies, new combined approaches and so on. But of particular interest and significance are the ever-expanding extensive databases. The rich databases are the key for determining the provenance and movement of marble and other stones. Only through these databases we can answer complicated questions about mobility in Antiquity, such as, what moved in each time; the raw materials, the finished products or the knowledge and ideas.
There were also some sad moments during this meeting. We had memorial obituaries for four dear colleagues and friends whom we lost in the time elapsed since the previous meeting at Izmir. Marc Waelkens, Amanda Claridge, Moshe Fischer and Elizabeth Cooke are no longer with us. Marc Waelkens and Amanda Claridge among others were founders of ASMOSIA. Liza Cook was a very enthusiastic participant and attendee in earlier meetings, and Moshe Fisher, apart from his lively presence and systematic participation was also a member of the EC until the last moment.
In this conference there were also some changes in the members and offices of the Executive Committee, a process that takes place every other conference according to our By-Laws. These were the following:
Prof. Isabel Rodà with a letter to the EC expressed her will to resign from the EC for personal reasons. The EC thanked her for organising the Tarragona meeting in 2009 and her service to the EC since. Yannis Maniatis was reelected in the President’s position, Walter Prochaska was elected in the Vice-President’s position. Pilar Lapuente was appointed as a regular councilor of the EC in acknowledgment of her long-standing contribution as Secretary/Treasurer and support to the organization of other ASMOSIA conferences, including her participation in the organization of the Tarragona Conference. Additionally, two new councilors were elected by the General Assembly of the membership; Vilma Ruppiene and Bojan Djuric. John Herrmann expressed his wish not to be a candidate for the Vice-President’s position for personal reasons. John has served in this post for almost 20 years with an immense contribution to the affairs and interests of ASMOSIA and in harmonious collaboration with the President. ASMOSIA expresses deep thanks to John for his long-standing service. He will continue as an EC councilor for the years to come. For a full list of the EC members click “offices”.
Closing this report, I would like on behalf of the EC and all the participants, to congratulate and thank the organizers from the bottom of our heart, for organizing a wonderful, stimulating, efficient and enjoyable meeting in Vienna.
The proceedings of the Vienna Conference will be published open access in the series “Sonderschriften des Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts”. The editors are Sabine Ladstätter, Walter Prochaska, and Vasiliki Anevlavi. For information and instructions see: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/conferences/asmosia-xiii-vienna/publications.
With best wishes to all,
Yannis Maniatis
President
Free ASMOSIA XII Proceedings
The organizers and publishers of the ASMOSIA XII proceedings, held in Izmir, are making available the paper book for free to ASMOSIA members. Members and other interested scholars need to pay only for the cost of courier delivery. To order a copy of the proceedings, contact Prof Yavuz at bahadir.yavuz@deu.edu.tr and ask which courier delivery service will ship to your address. After you contact the courier and arrange payment, notify Prof. Yavuz to let him know the payment was processed and your volume will be shipped to you.
ASMOSIA XI Proceedings Now Available Online!!!
Fantastic news!!! Prof. Daniela Matetić Poljak and Prof. Katja Marasović, the editors of the Proceedings of the XI International Conference of ASMOSIA in Split, have generously agreed to make the volume available online. Simply click this link to download the file. Note that the pdf file is quite large at just over 1000 pages and 516 MB.
Should you desire the bound volume, you can still buy a hardcopy. The cost is 270 Euros + delivery charges. To order the book please send a request to the Arts Academy in Split: asmosiaXI@umas.hr
Update on ASMOSIA’s Policy on Personal Data Protection
Complying with the General Data Protection European Regulation that recently adopted (EU, 2016/679), ASMOSIA will use collected personal data exclusively for contact purposes related to the Association. Members have the right to revoke this consent at any time by contacting the Association’s Secretary.