Network for Medieval Arts & Rituals / Grant Agreement number: 951875

Press Release 11 December 2023 // .pdf here in EN and here in GR.

NetMAR Formally Concluded During a Well-Attended Conference on 04 December 2023

The Concluding Conference of the “Network for Medieval Arts & Rituals” (NetMAR) took place in a hybrid mode, at the Ceremonial Hall of the University of Cyprus and online on the 4^th of December 2023. The conference featured welcomes from several dignitaries; the launch of the network’s journal; a round table presenting the experiences of NetMAR Early Stage Researchers (ESRs); a musical performance; presentations by the EU partners’ Team Leaders; and two keynote lectures.

Opening the event, the Honourable Deputy Minister of Culture, Dr Lina Kassianidou, greeted the conclusion of NetMAR and explained its importance for the advancement of Research and Innovation in Cyprus; for gaining international visibility in the field of Medieval Studies; and for creating invaluable and well lasting international collaborations.

Along the same lines and in the same spirit, the Rector of the University of Cyprus, Prof. Tassos Christofides, summarised NetMAR’s impact on the university, the field of Medieval Studies, the training of young researchers, and the preservation and promotion of European cultural heritage.

The Head of the Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies of the University of Cyprus, Prof. Marilena Karyolaimou, then congratulated all involved partners for the success of NetMAR, making special mention to NetMAR’s major milestones, its interdisciplinary nature and its role in fostering pioneering research and training activities.

NetMAR Coordinator, Dr Stavroula Constantinou, then officially launched Eventum: A Journal of Medieval Arts and Rituals (https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/eventum), of which she is the editor-in-chief. Eventum, NetMAR’s major deliverable, is an international, interdisciplinary, and peer-reviewed Diamond Open Access journal, the first to be especially devoted to medieval arts and rituals and their postmedieval recreations. The journal’s first issue is dedicated to the arts and rituals of pilgrimage.

The ESRs’ round table, introduced by NetMAR Project Officer Dr Andria Andreou provided insights into the experiences of ESRs with the network. Dr Elisabetta Barili, Dr Marina Elia, Anna-Maria Ernesti, Gerlinde Gangl, Chrystalla Loizou, Sara Moure López, and Savvas Mavromatides explained how NetMAR has decisively advanced their career potentials and skills.

An important highlight of the Concluding Conference was the first public performance of a short musical ritual for violin and piano entitled Passage that was composed by Nils Holger Petersen – a key member of the NetMAR team – for this special event. Passage was performed by Petersen (piano) and Pavlos Michaelides, NetMAR Project Manager (violin).

The NetMAR Team Leaders, Prof. Lars Boje Mortensen (SDU) and Prof. Emerita Ingrid Bennewitz (Uni BA) explained how NetMAR has positively impacted their universities and how it has created lasting and fruitful collaborations.

In her keynote lecture, Dr Bettina Wagner presented the invaluable documentary heritage of Bamberg, preserved in its State Library, and explained the fascinating background of some of ther library’s unique manuscripts.

Patricia Alberth, in yet another exciting keynote lecture, presented the current challenges of managing the palaces and gardens of Baden-Württemberg, followed by a discussion of a number of counteracting measures for achieving sustainability and inclusivity.

At the end, Dr Constantinou thanked all partners for their congenial contribution that marked the project’s three-year success.

NetMAR is an international interdisciplinary network dedicated to the study of medieval arts and rituals that has received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant agreement no. 951875) for three years (2021-2023). The project has brought together scholars, researchers, and students from different countries, institutions, and disciplines and has reached out to various stakeholders. NetMAR is made up of three major partners – the University of Cyprus (UCY) and its newly-created Centre for Medieval Arts & Rituals (CeMAR); the Centre for Medieval Literature (CML) at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU); and the Centre for Medieval Studies (ZeMas) at the University of Bamberg (UNI BA) – and is funded by the European Union.

For more information about NetMAR, as well as for its final conference you can visit its official website at https://www.ucy.ac.cy/netmar/.

NetMAR Concluding Conference Livestream Link: https://youtu.be/IxGB3_DATic

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under grant agreement No 951875.