Portraiture: an Interdisciplinary Conference

Hosted by the Centre for Visual Arts and Culture, Durham University

The study of portraiture is beginning to come into its own now that old assumptions about the low status of the genre have been challenged and contextualised. The ubiquity and diversity of portraits means that they can be used as evidence to address a wide range of questions, while the very idea ‘portrait’ is immensely rich. The conference is designed to open up fresh perspectives on a potent form of visual culture that is of continuing importance yet unevenly distributed in time and place.

Proposals may deal with any period and location. Papers are especially welcome that explore the interdisciplinary potential of studying portraiture and that address the following themes:

The ways portraits create, sustain and comment on occupational identity
Portraits and/in institutions
‘Portrait’ as an idea and its metaphorical dimensions
Portraits where the face is not present
Portraiture in the North East of the UK
Comparative approaches to portraiture, which might focus on place, time, occupation, race, social status and/or gender, for example.

Keynote speakers: Professor Elizabeth Cowling and Professor Viccy Coltman

We invite contributions of short papers for the conference. Please send an abstract – maximum 250 words – together with a one page CV by March 1st 2018 to cvacdurham.ac.uk and include ‘portraiture conference’ in the subject line.

Please note presenters of short papers will need to cover their own costs, which will be kept as low as possible. There will be no conference fee for speakers.

This conference follows the summer school Visual Intersections 3 (July 11th-13th). Early career researchers are especially welcome at both events.