We invite fellow PhD students and early career researchers from art history, fine arts, religious studies and anthropology to participate in the workshop “Decolonising the Self: Representations of the Self in Art Theory and Practice across Cultures”. The objective of this workshop is to explore cross-cultural notions of selfhood in art theory and practice from a multi-disciplinary perspective. This workshop will be held at SOAS, University of London on Thursday 22nd of November 2018, from 3.00 to 7.00pm.

The workshop aims to open a debate around questions including:
• In which different ways do artists from non-Western artistic
traditions represent selfhood?
• What notions of selfhood do these works of art embody?
• How do Western notions of selfhood alter (or not) the way these works of art are interpreted today?
• Do Western theories of representation centred around the human face and body direct these interpretations?
• How would a cross-cultural approach to understanding selfhood expand today’s art theories and practices?

This half-day workshop is open to SOAS and non-SOAS participants alike. All convenors are current graduate students, and it will provide a welcoming environment for invited participants to debate topics related to aspects of their research and/or artistic practice to an audience of students, artists and faculty members who include Dr Jorella Andrews (Goldmisths) and Professor Shane McCausland (SOAS), amongst others. The workshop will close with a drinks reception and we have modest funds to cover participants’ travel to the workshop, equivalent to domestic travelling within the United Kingdom.

Please register your interest by emailing an abstract no longer than 300 words explaining your research interest and its contribution to this workshop to Mariana Zegianini (611154soas.ac.uk) by Friday 19th October, 2018. Please also include your name, year of study, university and department. Further enquiries are also welcomed at the same e-mail address.

Further information about the workshop can also be found in
our Facebook page @decolonisingself.