Photograph of the palace at Fontainebleu, Paris

Students and staff from the department will be taking part in the biennial Festival of Art History (Festival de l'histoire de l'art) organised by the French Institut Nationale de l'Histoire de l'Art (INHA) at the Palais de Fontainebleau from 31 May to 2 June 2013.

Each Festival, organised to celebrate research and teaching of art history in France, also invites art historians from a partner country to take part. Students and academics mix and compare experiences of working in art history in their respective countries. This year Britain is the partner country, and Birmingham is one of a handful of British universities that have been invited to attend and participate.

The theme of the festival this year is L'Ephémère (The Ephemeral). Birmingham will be represented by Professor Matthew Rampley, who will be attending along with postgraduate students from the department. Professor Rampley will be talking about the idea of the ephemeral in contemporary art.