Call for Papers – Art & Activism: Resilience Techniques in Times of Crisis

13-15 December 2017, Leiden, the Netherlands

Confirmed Keynotes:  
T.J. Demos (University of California Santa Cruz) and Susan Cahan (Yale University)

Hosted by the Research Center for Material Culture of the Volkenkunde Museum (National Museum of World Cultures)

Abstracts due: 31 May 2017 (300 words + bibliography of 3-5 key sources + short bio note). Notification by: 1 July 2017

Send to: artandactivismcon@gmail.com

The conference Art & Activism aims to understand the force of art to engage and express political sentiment. At the heart of any art that can be called activist is a firm revolutionary belief in the possibility of societies reforming and improving. Behind its obvious involvement with present issues and concerns, activist art is always oriented to shaping an ameliorated future. This public role is not uncontested. The arts are (perpetually) under attack. A sense of crisis, moreover, is widely felt among contemporary artists and activists, who experience precarity, marginalization, and vulnerability on a daily basis and may put their bodies on the line. The idea of crisis, both in the arts and in society, has been widely articulated by scholars and critics. This interdisciplinary conference aims to create a space in which participants from scholarly, artistic and activist backgrounds can learn from and collaborate on a horizontal plane.
More information.