V Ibero-American Congress on Furniture History

CASTELLANO - EUSKARA - PORTUGUÊS

The University of the Basque Country will host the 5th Ibero-American Congress on Furniture History, to be held at the Bizkaia Aretoa in Bilbao on the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th of June 2025. Following previous editions held in Oviedo (2016), Porto (2018), Barcelona (2020/21), and Mexico City (2023), its aim is to present and discuss results of studies related to the history of furniture in Ibero-America.

Furniture refers to a wide range of objects that, over different periods, have facilitated various human activities. On this occasion, the congress will focus, following Pierre Bourdieu’s ideas, on “Furniture as Cultural Capital”, viewing it as an element that confers power and social status, while also welcoming interpretations from different perspectives and historical periods.

The congress invites the participation of professionals from art history, history, conservation, restoration, architecture, design, artisanship, museums, antiquarian trade, as well as researchers investigating the cultural, artistic, historical, material, social, political, economic, or anthropological implications of furniture.

The aim is to enable interpretations of heritage that reflect changes in ways of life, rituals, and social status. We welcome contributions on material and technical aspects, crafts and industries, typologies, models and structures, functions and expressions, occasions, beliefs and identities, relationships and connections with the environment and other settings, as well as studies on the market, collecting, exhibition, and management of furniture heritage.

Therefore, broad approaches and case studies will be necessary, as well as the analysis of relationships between furniture and different disciplines, alongside theoretical, historiographical, and methodological readings that highlight different sources of research.

The congress will address the following thematic areas:

• Cultural, practical, and symbolic dimensions.
• Techniques and materials, crafts and industries.
• Typologies, models, and structures.
• Relationships and connections.
• Production and commercial centres.
• Market and collecting.
• Conservation, cataloging, exhibition, and management.
• Theory, methodology, historiography, and research sources.

PROPOSALS AND SUBMISSION DEADLINES. CALL FOR PAPERS

Abstracts may be submitted to the congress until 31st January 2025 (extended deadline). To submit your proposal, please download the template and attach it in the online form provided below:

Template: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_I9b0gQSM88ta3gpoTq0amn3DRYYrnOD/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=116184615851150079230&rtpof=true&sd=true

Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdhKvQZHCb1yyxDiEOEjC0RInx1OjCus-oDJJBf1S0zFR6o8w/viewform

Following the evaluation by the scientific committee in mid-February, accepted communications will be notified, and participants must complete their registration by 15th April to confirm their attendance.

Presentations will be conducted in person and may be delivered in Spanish, Portuguese, English, or Basque, without simultaneous translation services, and will last for 15 minutes.

You can contact the conference organization at the following email: info.cihm25@gmail.com.

PUBLICATION

Communications presented at the congress may be submitted for evaluation to a special issue of the journal Res Mobilis.

Publication guidelines will adhere to those indicated on the journal's page, but the maximum length will be 35,000 characters including spaces, and a maximum of 10 images will be permitted. 

The deadline for submitting the original manuscripts will be 30th September 2025. 

Link to the journal: [Res Mobilis] https://reunido.uniovi.es/index.php/RM

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

• Patricia Díaz Cayeros. Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas. UNAM
• Pedro Feduchi Canosa. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
• Ana María Fernández García. Universidad de Oviedo
• Mónica Piera Miquel. Asociació per l’Estudi del Moble
• Gonçalo de Vasconcelos e Sousa. Univesidade Católica Portuguesa. Porto
• María Villanueva Fernández. Universidad de Navarra

ORGANISING COMMITTEE

• Fernando R. Bartolomé García. UPV/EHU
• Mikel Bilbao Salsidua. UPV/EHU
• Eva Díez Paton. UPV/EHU
• Francisco Javier Muñoz Fernández. UPV/EHU
• María Jesús Pacho Fernández. UPV/EHU

The congress is part of the activities of the following research groups financed by the Basque Government and affiliated with the UPV/EHU:

• Societies, processes, cultures (VIII-XVIII centuries)
• History, population and heritage
• GizArtea

Photo of the website: Nestor Basterretxea. 131 table, designed for H furniture. 1958. Museum of Fine Arts of Bilbao