The Forth International Symposium on Contemporary Art Theory, entitled Myths of Permanence and the Ephemeral, seeks to provide an analysis and critique about the various ways through which the use of the notion of history influences contemporary art practice. The presentations and discussions will focus on three fundamental aspects of the relationship between history and contemporary art, such as the way in which we envision, trace and produce texts about the history of recent art production; the current variables that modify our understanding and assimilation of history (such as a historical self-awareness and the production of ephemeral art); and the way in which history is shaped by economic and political forces that favour certain views about art.