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Other Conferences The Third International Conference on Diaspora and Design: "Diaspora, Globalization, and Design - Exploring the Forces Shaping Contemporary Cross-Cultural Practices" Deadline for abstract submission is October 10, 2011 Organized by: Parsons The New School for Design, New York, NY The goal of this conference is to consider how artists, designers, and practitioners in a myriad of design disciplines are engaging and responding to the tensions and opportunities brought about by globalization and cross-cultural exchanges and how such changes are being preserved as a study of cultures around the world. This third of three international and interdisciplinary conferences will examine, document, and preserve the influence of diaspora (or immigration) and diaspora culture on design due to globalization. This conference builds upon two prior conferences that explored the relationship between culture, especially power, privilege, wealth, identity and values, and design (especially fashion). This third conference expands the scope of this discussion to other design disciplines and also serves to further our long-term goal of developing a virtual diaspora museum. Abstract Submissions We encourage anyone interested in presenting a paper to submit an abstract for consideration. We are particularly interested in papers that address the role of diaspora (of peoples, ideas, spaces) in the influencing design idea and production. Major topic areas will include the following: Influence of diaspora/immigration on design cultures (local and/or global). Abstracts should not exceed more than 3,500 characters, inclusive of spaces. The deadline for abstract submission is Oct. 10, 2011. For more information, please contact East Rock Institute ateri3@yale.pantheon.edu, or (203) 624-8619, or please visit the official Conference website, which will be launched in early October. New Spaces for Negotiating Art (and) History in African Cities Deadline for abstract submission is October 31, 2011 Prof. Dr. Kerstin Pinther, Art Historical Department, Arts of Africa, Free University Berlin In most African countries, cultural institutions like museums and art galleries, archives and art academies were established either by the colonial state or in the context of postcolonial nation building. Hence, the cultural field has often been shaped according to national aesthetics and/or thematic concepts and guidelines. Although many artists and activists have repeatedly criticized and distanced themselves from state-initiated cultural politics - as, for example, community archives and community art centers in Apartheid South Africa or initiatives like the "Laboratoire Agit-Art" in post-independence Senegal - from early on, it seems that particularly during the last two decades a series of new spaces and initiatives were created. They set themselves apart from municipal and/or state-affiliated institutions as well as from commercial (art) markets and created alternative models and platforms for negotiating art (and) history, reflecting upon and archiving art, visual culture and (cultural) history. Cases in point are the Contemporary Image Collective (Cairo), Doula'art (Douala), the District Six Museums (Cape Town) or Zoma Contemporary Art Centre (Addis Ababa), to name but a few. Some of these initiatives aim to establish self-organized, non-hegemonic and experimental fields and orders of knowledge, others deliberately question institutions established by the postcolonial nation state, still others attempt at filling in where public institutions are undermined. In many cases, scholars, cultural practitioners, curators and artists as well as activists join to collaborate in these spaces. New forms of south-south- cooperation and transnational networking - including diasporic communities - are developed. This inter- and transdisciplinary workshop intends to take these independent spaces and initiatives as a starting point to discuss and analyze the expanding and diversifying field of cultural production and reflection in African cities. We invite scholars and practitioners (founders, members and users of such spaces as well as artists and curators) to present case studies or comparative analyses with one or more of the following (research) focuses: 1. Histories Against which historical backgrounds must the emergence of such spaces be read in different countries? How did they develop in different fields (art, culture, history), and in which ways are their histories connected? 2. Modi operandi: approaches, (curatorial) practices and strategies How are these spaces organized and maintained? What curatorial practices, scientific and/or aesthetic strategies do they employ? Which media do they work with? 3. Addressing and archiving the past How do they reflect upon history? How and to what end do they acquire and work with (historical) collections and build (historical) archives? 4. Questioning canons: In what ways do such spaces comment on or even question canons of historical and art historical knowledge, e.g. established historical narratives or boundaries between art and (popular) culture etc.? Which theoretical and/or methodological debates do they draw upon or feed their work into? 5. Urban spaces and urban publics How do these sites relate to the specific urban spaces and situations in which they have emerged? How do they engage with the broader urban public, with different audiences and groups of interested users and/or contributors? How do they affect the access and use of public space in African cities? 6. Revisiting state and municipal institutions How do these initiatives position themselves vis-ā-vis, relate to or collaborate with municipal or national institutions? At the end of the workshop, possibilities and perspectives for a long-term cooperation between the workshop participants in the field of African Studies, Visual Culture Studies, Art History, Museum and Archive Studies will be explored. A publication of the workshop proceedings is envisaged. We particularly encourage younger scholars and practitioners to submit a short CV and an abstract of no more than 500 words by October 31, 2011 to kerstin.pinther@fu-berlin.de and larissa.foerster@uni-koeln.de . Papers can be given in English or French. Contributors to the workshop will be asked to additionally chair one of the resulting 6 panels. Keynotes will be given by five invited speakers (t.b.a.) and will partly focus on alternative spaces in other regions than Africa. The project, which runs under the name "Programme Point Sud" of the German Research Foundation, will cover travel expenses and accommodation for all speakers. "Textile Society of America 13th Biennial Symposium" Throughout human history and across the globe, whether as intimate artifacts of interpersonal relations or state-level monumental works, textiles have been imbued with political importance.Textiles can communicate and construct status, ethnicity, gender, power, taste, and wealth, and have functioned at the nexus of artistic, economic, and political achievement in human culture. As trade goods, creative medium, and social artifact, textiles have been instrumental in generating, supporting, and challenging political power. The Textile Society of America 13th Biennial Symposium Textiles & Politics will explore the ways politics influence the aesthetics, production, materials, uses, and myriad other aspects of textiles. The theme is especially fitting for our host city of Washington, DC, one of the most politically significant in the world, and in the U. S. especially during the presidential election year of 2012. Washington, DC and its metro area offer a wealth of world-class textile resources, from museum collections such as The Textile Museum, the Renwick Gallery, Dumbarton Oaks Museum, and the Daughters of American Revolution Museum, to conservation research and laboratory facilities at the Smithsonian Institution, to cutting-edge fiber art at the Torpedo Factory. The main symposium events will take place at the Washington Court Hotel, centrally located in downtown DC near the National Mall, Union Station, and Penn Quarter. Bus transportation will be provided for conference attendees to local institutions hosting symposium events such as receptions, open galleries and studios, site seminars, and tours. To submit a proposal, go to: http://www.textilesociety.org/symposia_2012.htm#TSA2012BiennialSymposiumCallforPapers |
