Art Symposia in the 1960s

The Dissertation Abstract The dissertation deals with the tradition of holding art symposia (with a special focus on sculpture symposia) since their origins until the beginning of the 1970s. Both of them coming from German-speaking regions, so far only two works have been dedicated to the topic. However, they both focus on sculpture symposia and totally neglect other disciplines. The fact that they - for perfectly understandable reasons - mostly deal with art from Eastern Europe and overseas is their second weakness. Thus East-European art symposia are commented on scarcely and without knowledge of the local context. The text of the dissertation is therefore for the fist time fully based on an extensive research of the wide spectrum of symposia with respect to their geographical and disciplinary aspects. Thanks to their heavy influence, sculpture symposia, nevertheless, tend to occupy most space. The text places symposia into the context of general development in visual arts and sculpture after World War 2, especially with respect to some on-going contemporary trends, such as the phenomenon of open-air exhibitions, foundation of sculpture parks, development of public art, emerging of abstract art or welded metal sculptures of the later period. The major part of the text includes data about all art symposia..