The 25th International Congress of Byzantine Studies is taking place in Vienna from 24 to 29 August. The Byzantine Studies Congresses are the world’s largest event dedicated to the latest research and discoveries relating to Byzantium, its history and culture. Since the first such congress in 1924 in Bucharest, the event has been held approximately every five years in various locations, recently attracting up to 1,500 participants. This edition of the congress brings together scholars from around the world who will present their papers in person at the University of Vienna. The congress, organised by the Austrian Association for Byzantine Studies, the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the local University, is accompanied by cultural events, receptions and numerous opportunities for professional and informal networking. Thematic exhibitions and events have also been organised in collaboration with the City of Vienna.
The twenty-fifth edition of the congress has also seen a large turnout of researchers from BAS. Among them, Prof. Ivan Biliarski, Prof. Penka Danova from the Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, Prof. Anissava Miltenova from the Institute of Literature, Prof. Liliana Simeonova and Assoc. Prof. Dobriela Kotova from the Institute for Balkan Studies with Center of Thracology, Prof. Stefka Venkova from the Institute of Art Studies, and others, who take part in thematic sessions and open discussion forums, stand out. Prof. Emmanuel Moutafov, Vice-President of BAS, took part in one of the congress’s round-table discussions (Inscriptions Between Stone and Fresco: Aspects of Materiality in the Byzantine Monumental Script Culture); he has also been invited by the organisers to chair a session dedicated to the history and art of Constantinople. He also took part in the meeting of the Commission on Byzantine Epigraphy of the International Association of Byzantine Studies of which he had been a full member since 2022. During the congress, Prof. Moutafov held a meeting with Prof. Claudia Rapp, Director of the “Byzantine Research” Department at the Institute of Medieval Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, at which specific ideas for joint projects with BAS were discussed. Further discussions were also held with potential international partners of the Academy.
On the initiative of Dr Maximilien Durand, Director of the Byzantine Department at the Louvre, Professor Moutafov was elected a member of the newly established heritage commission.
