SMArt Talks: Building Histories
We cordially invite you to the autumn lecture series SMArt Talks, organised by the Centre for Modern Art & Theory. SMArt Talks: Building Histories start on the 23rd of September!
SMArt Talks: What Makes a Historical Monument? Restorations and the Creation of Architectural Heritage in the Balkans (1860–1930)
We are delighted to invite you to the first SMArt Talks lecture of the autumn semester, to be delivered by Cosmin Tudor Minea, researcher at the Centre for Modern Art & Theory. Cosmin Minea is currently leading a project on the formation of architectural heritage and the development of early art historical writings in Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria. The lecture will take place on Tuesday, the 23rd of September 2025, at the Hans Belting Library at 18:00.
Abstract
This talk explores how architectural monuments have been transformed, preserved, neglected or made into state symbols in the modern states of Romania and Serbia. It identifies the transnational networks of architects and travellers who discovered, wrote about, preserved and rebuilt historical buildings in the region to argue that transnational relations underpin the formation of national canons, especially in art and architecture. These exchanges shaped not only the practical approaches to restoration but also the symbolic role of monuments within newly forming national narratives.
At the core of this analysis are the meanings assigned to old buildings in the newly emerged nation-states. Ranging from the neglect of monuments that did not fit the national canon (such as those of ethnic or religious communities) to their complete transformation, the multitude of significances speak about exclusivist nature of heritage-building and the diverse nature of the societies at the time.
The talk also considers the rise of modern restoration theory and practice in the region. Many of the questions debated during this period remain relevant today: Which layers of a monument's history should be preserved? Should restoration interventions be visible or discreet? Whose voices and interests should guide conservation decisions? And how can historical monuments be meaningfully integrated into the needs and expectations of modern societies?
Cosmin Tudor Minea is postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Art History. He leads an individual project about the formation of the architectural heritage and the first art history writings in Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Bukovina, between 1860 and 1930. He has a PhD in art history from the University of Birmingham about restorations and writings about architectural monuments in Romania in the 19th and 20th centuries. He is more generally interested in how architecture gains meaning for different persons, social groups and political discourses. Cosmin is also affiliated with New Europe College, Bucharest where he is member of a research group looking at the environmental history of modern Romania.