Africa and Its Diasporas in the Market Place:
Cultural Resources and the Global Economy

The ACASA Triennial program committee of Rowland Abiodun, Christa Clarke, Carol Magee, Doran Ross (chair) and Jessica Winegar has selected the proposal of Pamela Allara as a core theme for the Fifteenth Triennial Symposium on African Art to be held at the University of California, Los Angeles, March 23 to 26, 2011.

The core theme of the 2011 ACASA symposium examines the current status of Africa’s cultural resources and the influence—for good or ill—of market forces both inside and outside the continent. As nation states decline in influence and power, and corporations, private patrons and foundations increasingly determine the kinds of cultural production that will be supported, how is African art being reinterpreted and by whom? Are artists and scholars able to successfully articulate their own intellectual and cultural values in this climate? Is there anything we can do to address the situation?

Within this broad sweep the Triennial Program Committee has identified a number of potential panel, and roundtable topics that might provoke interest. They include:

• Publications and market driven scholarship
  
• The museum industry, the branding of artists, and creating a canon
  
• Funding of research initiatives: opportunities and challenges
  
• Selling contemporary art in Africa: artists, galleries, patrons
  
• Forging traditions: the mass production and commodification of classic genres
• Auctioning Africa from the 19th c. to the present day: cultural property and the
  market place
  
• Hiring, promotion, and tenure in downsizing economies
  
• Public vs. private sectors in the valuation of African art
  
• Copyrights and fees for intellectual and cultural property
• Tourism and the packaging of African expressive culture
  

Of course, this list is meant to be suggestive not exhaustive, and submissions on any topic beyond the core theme are also welcome.

Guidlines for Submissions

The program committee encourages the submission of panels with four twenty minute papers plus a discussant and roundtables with a maximum of eight ten-minute presentations. Proposals for panels and roundtables seeking participants will be posted on the ACASA listserv as they are received. Proposals for individual papers seeking a panel will be matched appropriately or will be grouped in general panels. Regardless of panel, roundtable, or paper, all proposals must include the following:

• Title
• A proposal abstract not to exceed two hundred words
• Media requirements (Powerpoint, video, etc)
  
• Full contact information including mailing address, phone, and email of the
  presenter

Participants may present one paper only, but may serve as a discussant on another panel or serve as a presenter on a roundtable. All proposals should be sent to program chair Doran H. Ross at dross@arts.ucla.edu. The deadline for panel and roundtable proposals seeking participants is November 15, 2010, and the final deadline for fully composed panels and roundtables and individual papers is December 15, 2010. As a reminder, all presenters at the Triennial must be members of ACASA prior to acceptance of their proposal.

Travel Support and Stipends

A limited number of grants for up to $2,000 will be awarded to presenters who apply and are traveling from Africa and the Caribbean. Likewise, a limited number of $500 travel stipends will be awarded to graduate students. To apply, simply indicate with your paper proposal your interest in travel support and your point of departure for Los Angeles.