IFAO

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As a part of the IFAO-Sorbonne Research Program "ÉCRITURES", an international conference will be held from 15 to 17 June 2019. Organized by Khaled Hassan (Cairo University/IFAO) & Chloé Ragazzoli (Sorbonne Université), the sessions of the conference will all take place in Cairo, at the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale (IFAO).

The practice of graffiti, rock inscriptions and secondary epigraphy in Ancient Egypt need to be examined, elucidated and evaluated in relation to their archaeological and environmental contexts. This conference seeks to render ever more discernible these voices from the past, long regarded as inconsequential and perfunctory, by shedding new light on their interrelational links with visual reception, society and culture.

The papers aim to map corpora of graffiti throughout the Egyptian space and to address common issues of definitions and interpretations. It will assess various lines of enquiry such as the relations and dialogues that graffiti create with not only their natural environments (landscape) but also with man-made spaces; the social context of graffiti creation and their reception by an audience when considered as artefacts of cultural practices and performances ; the relations and dialogues between various epigraphic layers on a single surface and with their surroundings ; the semiotic value of various graphical.

The conference will also be an opportunity for discussion on the technical tools and concepts which are available for both documentation and publication and exploitation. The edited volume of the conference aims to offer a map of graffiti practices, types of graffiti, relevant sites, communities and spaces covered by graffiti.

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