René Berger (April 29, 1915,
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
– January 29, 2009,
Lausanne
Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
) was a Swiss writer, philosopher and a historian of art.
Titles
*"
Docteur ès lettres
Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...
" of the
University of Paris
The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...
(Sorbonne)
*Honorary professor at the
University of Lausanne
The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...
and the
École des Beaux-Arts
; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...
.
*Former Director-Curator of the
Musée des Beaux-Arts.
*Honorary President of the
International Association of Art Critics
The International Association of Art Critics (French: ''Association Internationale des Critiques d’Art'', AICA) was founded in 1950 to revitalize critical discourse, which suffered under Fascism during World War II. Affiliated with UNESCO AICA wa ...
(AICA) and the International Association for Video in the Arts and Culture (AIVAC).
*Founder of the cultural movement Pour l'Art.
*Originator-producer of the Colloquia of the International Video Festival of
Locarno
Locarno (; ; Ticinese dialect, Ticinese: ; formerly in ) is a southern Switzerland, Swiss List of towns in Switzerland, town and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district Locarno (district), Locarno (of which it is the capita ...
.
*Consulting expert to
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
and the
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...
.
*Member of the Kuratorium of the
Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM Karlsruhe).
*Member of the Academy of the International Centre of Contemporary Art, Chateau de Beychevelle (GMF Group, France, Suntory Group, Japan).
Select publications
*''Découverte de la peinture'' (1958, reedited in 1969)
*''Connaissance de la peinture'' (1963)
*''Art et communication'' (1972)
*''La mutation des signes'' (1972)
*''La téléfission, alerte à la télévision'' (1976)
*''L'effet des changements technologiques'' (1983)
*''Jusqu'où ira votre ordinateur? L'imaginaire programmé'' (1987)
*''Téléovision, le nouveau Golem'' (1991)
*''L'origine du futur'' (1996)
*''René Berger. L'art vidéo'', François Bovier, Adeena Mey (eds.) (2014)
Several of those have been translated into English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian, Romanian, Arabic and Japanese.
Berger made numerous contributions to magazines and reviews. He also produced radio and television programs. He participated regularly in many international conferences, congresses. juries, seminars and
colloquia. Berger pursued research in new technologies as they relate to our emerging technoculture.
He won numerous international awards, among them the Golden Laser (Locarno, 1987) and the Picasso Medal (UNESCO, 1989).
Berger was the father of
Jacques-Édouard Berger, who predeceased him in 1993 and in whose memory he established the Jacques-Édouard Berger Foundation.
External links
* (fr
His first site, or a contribution to his son* (en
His contribution to the science
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, Rene
1915 births
2009 deaths
University of Paris alumni
Academic staff of the University of Lausanne