When: Monday 15 April 2019 10:00am - 08:00pm
Founded in 2012, Othello's Island is an annual conference looking at Medieval, Renaissance and early modern history, literature, art and other culture, held at the Centre for Visual Arts and Research (CVAR) in Nicosia, Cyprus. It brings together a wide range of academics and research students, from all over the world, to discuss their work in what we describe as a multi-disciplinary event.
Sometimes the themes of different papers can seem very diverse, but a multi-disciplinary approach means that we encourage participants to listen to a wide range of papers, in different discipline areas, in the belief that this can lead to new, sometimes remarkable, insights.
Our hosts for the conference, the Centre for Visual Arts and Research (CVAR), is located in the centre of the old town of Nicosia, capital of Cyprus. In its medieval streets, surrounded by the huge Venetian walls, you will find lovely museums, shops, cafes and restaurants, as well as medieval and renaissance buildings, harking back to the medieval and renaissance period, when Cyprus was ruled by the French Lusignan royal family. Perhaps most notable of the house was the last Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, whose portrait was painted by Giorgione, Titian and other Renaissance artists.
The draft programme for the 2019 conference is now online. Please note this is still subject to change and individual papers may be moved to different times and days, or may even be cancelled.
Link:
https://www.othellosisland.org/copy-of-2018-provisional-programme
16 April - 18:30 : Othello's Island: Hamlet in the Time of Cromwell
Under the direction of
- Dr Henry Bell of Sheffield Hallam University and
- Dr Stella Achilleos of the University Cyprus
students from the University of Cyprus will perform the gravediggers' scene from Hamlet. The production will make use of a script devised for underground performance during the time the theatres remained closed on orders from Oliver Cromwell. The directors will give a brief historical introduction and after the performance will lead a question and answer session which will include the actors.
- Admission is free and all are welcome
- To register: http://bit.ly/oi_hamlet
17 April - 18:30: Keynote Speaker - Professor Phil Withington
Title: Leaving the Mediterranean: Intoxicants and Europe's Great Transformation
From the time of Alexander the Great to the age of Renaissance Italy the Mediterranean was at the heart of Europe. During this period, questions relating to war, trade, religion and politics almost always had a Mediterranean connection. Yet, by the seventeenth centuryIn
the centre of gravity in Europe had shifted away from the Mediterranean to north and west Europe.thistalk Professor Phil Withington of the University of Sheffield will look at this transformative shift and how it not only reshaped the political and economic map of Europe, but changed the tastes of Europeans as products such as tea, coffee, sugar and even opium flooded European markets. At the heart of this were the new Atlantic sea routes and the exploitation of the Americas.
Phil Withington is Professor in Social and Cultural History at the University of Sheffield. His books include The Politics of Commonwealth: Citizens and Freemen in Early Modern England, published by Cambridge University Press, and Cultures of Intoxication, published by Oxford University Press.
