The Spectacle of Costumes in Motion in the Films of Georges Méliès. An Aesthetics of Unveiling Communication dans un congrès

The interdisciplinary conference "Fabrics in Motion. Mediality and Materiality of Textiles in Early 20th Century Film and Media Culture" will take place from May 31 – June 2, 2022 at the University of Cologne. It is organized by the Chair of Art and Media History of Visual Media : Junior Professor Dr. Kristina Koehler, M.A. Bianka-Isabell Scharmann & M.A. Pia Bornus, Institute for Media Culture and Theater & Art History Institute of the University of Cologne. A billowing skirt hem, waving veils, the flapping of a sail in the wind : especially in early films, moving materials are often exhibited as independent showpieces. Film screenings also offered themselves as places for a special knowledge of materials – for example, when the use of slow motion made it obvious that chiffon silk moved differently than coarsely woven cotton fabric ; when the little hairs of a fur collar, moved by a breeze, seemed to stand out almost haptically in the close-up.