Anna Christidou, Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies, CEU visited Tbilisi during 14-18 September, 2012 where she was hosted by Professor Zaza Skhirtladze, Head of the Institute of the History and Theory of Art, Faculty of Humanities, Tbilisi State University, Georgia. On Monday, 17 September, she lectured at TSU on "Late Medieval Albania (Balkans): a crossroads of cultures and patrons."
Abstract
"For, thrones and peoples are but waifs that swing, and float or fall in endless ebb and flow." Edith Durham, High Albania
Though an intrinsic part of the well-researched medieval Western Balkans, the history and art of the territories that correspond to modern Albania remain largely unexplored. Whilst scholarly interest in the region has increased, very few monuments of the Byzantine period have been exposed to modern scholarship (amphitheatre chapel of Dyrrachion; church/refectory of the Monastery of the Virgin at Apollonia). The limited visual evidence examined so far provides only a fragmentary - often simplistic - picture of the intricate social and cultural geography of the region.
Using a broad range of architectural and painting evidence, this paper demonstrates and interprets the artistic and cultural diversity of Medieval Albania against the varied social, ecclesiastical and political realities that occurred in its north, central and south parts from the twelfth to the fourteenth century. While emphasising the activity of powerful patrons of varied origin, background and interests as well as emerging local lords, the paper stresses the variety of underlying messages intended for the audiences and discusses the social and political functions of patronage: either as instrument of creating social collective consciousness or, more importantly, as the attempt by influential stakeholders of the period to state ownership and authority over this highly strategic crossroads.