International Conference – The Worlds of British Sculpture: Sculpture and Empire at St Paul’s Cathedral, c.1796-1916 (2022)

Online, 28 June 2022

2022 pan con 01‘The Worlds of British Sculpture: Sculpture and Empire at St Paul’s Cathedral, c.1796-1916’ was the second and concluding international conference of the UKRI-funded research project Pantheons: Sculpture at St Paul’s Cathedral, c.1796-1916, a collaboration between the Department of History of Art at the University of York and St Paul’s Cathedral.  It was convened by Prof. Jason Edwards (University of York), Dr Greg Sullivan (University of York/St Paul's Cathedral) and Dr Marjorie Coughlan (University of York).

The conference was concerned with the intersections of sculpture and empire at the cathedral between 1796 and 1916. The papers were grouped into five clusters:

  • The Americas
  • South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia
  • Afghanistan, the Punjab
  • Africa
  • Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica

The series of twelve presentations were object-focused, on small, related groups of monuments, by key scholars in the field. The papers were available to watch in advance; links to the presentations were sent out to ticket-holders the week before the conference. Attendees were then invited to email any questions for the speakers, and these questions formed the basis of the panel discussions at the online conference on Tuesday 28 June 2022.

The conference gave rise to a special issue of the Sculpture Journal: ‘Round Table: Sculpture and Faith at St Paul’s Cathedral, c. 1796–1914’ (vol. 28:1, January 2023).

For further information about the project, visit the Pantheons website.


 Speakers

  • Dr Paula Gooder (Chancellor, St Paul’s Cathedral) – Welcome
  • Prof. Alex Bremner (University of Edinburgh): Central Africa
  • Dr Petrina Dacres (Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts): The Caribbean
  • Prof. Santanu Das (University of Oxford): The Punjab
  • Prof. Jason Edwards (University of York): Afghanistan
  • Dr Issy Gapp (University of Toronto): Antarctica
  • Dr. Maddie Hewitson (Ashmolean Museum): Egypt and the Sudan
  • Dr Sophie Matthiesson (Auckland Art Gallery, Toi o Tāmaki): New Zealand
  • Dr Sarah Monks (Independent Scholar): Southeast Asia
  • Prof. Charmaine Nelson (Institute for Study of Canadian Slavery, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design): Canada
  • Dr Kate Nichols (University of Birmingham): Australia
  • Dr Jiyi Ryu (National Research Foundation of Korea): East Asia
  • Dr Rebecca Senior (University of Nottingham): United States of America
  • Dr Greg Sullivan (University of York/St Paul’s Cathedral): Asia
  • Dr Sean Wilcock (University of Oxford): South Africa

Main image: Composite photograph of details from monuments at St Paul's Cathedral (photo: Pantheons project)

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