International conference dedicated to the research of the phenomenon of Palaeolithic Venus figurines
Dietrichstein Palace, Zelný trh 8, Brno
16. – 17. 9. 2025
An international conference dedicated to the research of the phenomenon of Palaeolithic Venus figurines took place on 16-17 September 2025. The conference was part of the Venus 100 and followed the exhibition of the same name, held at the Dietrichstein Palace of the Moravian Museum on Zelný trh in Brno.
The first day, dedicated to presentations by experts from many European countries, took place in the Dietrichstein Palace of the Moravian Museum, in the Karel Valoch Hall, where the participants were welcomed by Jiří Mitáček – the general director of the Moravian Museum. The following papers were presented as part of the conference:
- Petr Neruda The Universe Inside the Venus of Dolní Věstonice
- Jiří Svoboda The Venus of Věstonice and her sisters: Variability in forms and interpretations
- Paul Pettitt, Sam Hirst, Bob Kentridge (prezentace online) Fixation and dwelling: using visual psychological methods to understand the Dolní Vĕstonice and other Venus figurines
- Rebecca Farbstein & April Nowell Building a Context for an Icon: the technological, material, and social life histories of Pavlovian ceramic figurines
- Nicolas Conard (prezentovala Sibylle Wolf) How the discovery of the Aurignacian female figurines from Hohle Fels changed our view of the earliest Paleolithic Art
- Claudine Cohen Gender representations in Palaeolithic art: ambiguities, formal puns and anamorphoses
- Margheritta Mussi (prezentace online) The artist behind the figurines: tradition and creativity in the female imagery of the Gravettian
- Ľubomíra Kaminská Slovak Venus from Moravany nad Váhom
- Sibylle Wolf On the authenticity of two presumed Palaeolithic female figurines from the art market
- Walpurga Antl-Weiser Palaeolithic female figurines – changes of archaeological interpretations and public perception
- Francesco d’Errico, Solange Rigaud, Martina Lázničková-Galetová, Esteban Alvarez Fernandez, Biba Hromadová The Culturalisation of the Human Body: From Adaptive Niche Expansion to Symbolic Niche Construction
- Marieluise Hahn Male Representations in the Upper Paleolithic: Approaches to the Identification of Sex Characteristics
Abstracts download (PDF document)
The following day was devoted to an excursion to the Archeopark in Pavlov, where the participants were welcomed by Zuzana Havlická from the collaborating Regional Museum in Mikulov. In addition to a tour of the permanent exhibition and part of the exhibition project "The Second Life of the Venus of Věstonice", the participants were introduced to the latest research in Dolní Věstonice I. The presentation was given by Martin Novák from the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, who was the head of the research and who collaborated in organising the excursion day. The participants had the opportunity to stand near the place where the Venus of Věstonice was found.
In the afternoon, there was a presentation at Mikulov Castle, where the conference organiser Martina Lázničková-Galetová took the participants on an excursion through the second part of the exhibition "The Second Life of the Venus of Věstonice", which was created under her curatorship.
