Journal of Global Studies and Contemporary Art (REG|AC)
Themed Issue: Indigenous Epistemologies and Artistic Imagination

Guest Editors: Anna Maria Guasch (UB) and Nasheli Jiménez del Val (AGI)

The Journal of Global Studies and Contemporary Art (REG|AC) is an indexed, open-access online academic publication, which aims to analyze visuality, contemporary artistic practices and cultural conflicts through a global perspective. REG|AC is associated to the research group Art Globalization Interculturality (AGI/ART) of the Department of Art History at the University of Barcelona. http://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/REGAC

Issue Theme:
Indigenous situated knowledges are increasingly being recognized as an urgent voice in global debates on natural resources, sustainability, heritage, governance, representation, and social justice. Given the current world situation, in which migration, poverty, discrimination and other social forces are compounded by natural disasters and anthropogenic climate change—dismantling any humanist ideals of peace and prosperity—, indigenous epistemologies have become an alternative for re-thinking what Arjun Appadurai has termed an “emancipatory policy” that could address the asymmetries in the distribution of resources, capital, and power in what is now a clearly destabilizing global landscape. How may a position of marginality become a space of power in our contemporary world, a possibility that seems even more relevant today as we contemplate the broad resurgence of indigenous societies in multiple regions and forums? How do indigenous claims to self-representation and cultural production challenge current Western-hegemonic ways of belonging and looking at the world? Seen through the lens of an as-yet unfinished process of decolonization in which “the indigenous” is now being activated and understood through different social, political and aesthetic platforms, contemporary indigenous artistic agents and activists share complex and often conflicting agendas that signal potential points of tension and resistance in the current global scenario.

The REG|AC themed issue “Indigenous Epistemologies and Artistic Imagination” aims to address the recent inclusion of “indigenous thought” in the global art world by seeking to create links between non-Western knowledges, indigenous epistemologies and the artistic imagination, deploying an approach that Rosi Braidotti terms “non-Western indigenous humanism” or “indigenous knowledge systems”. Within the framework of a critical humanities that addresses our current posthuman landscape, Braidotti poses a series of questions that echo our aim to link postcolonial theories, environmental humanities and indigenous epistemologies: What do we make of the fact that so few institutional patterns have emerged around feminist / queer / migrant / poor / de-colonial / diasporic humanities? What are the actual implications of these deterritorializations for both the posthuman knowing subject and her disciplinary practice? How can we negotiate the paradoxical confluence that tenses a certain fagocitation of “other” epistemologies by (Western) academia and the will—or need—of some communities to gain ground in the social sphere in order to make their demands visible? These are some of the central questions that we aim to discuss through a trans-disciplinary stance in what we might call the rhizomatic field of contemporary knowledge production.

Instructions for Authors:
REG|AC is an indexed journal (DIALNET, CARHUS Plus+ 2018, ERIHPlus, and LATINDEX Catálogo v1.0 2002-2017, therefore all contributions must be original and following an APA referencing system (see http://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/REGAC/about/submissions). Originals will be submitted to peer review through a double blind review process by specialists in the field. Accordingly, the Editorial Board has final say over the publication of the text. Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms: Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work, simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal (see: http://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/REGAC/about/submissions#copyrightNotice).

Submission Guidelines:
Articles may be presented in English or Spanish. Their extension must be between 20,000 and 40,000 characters (approximately 3000-6000 words), including references. The author is responsible for obtaining the corresponding permits for the reproduction of images included in the text. Please follow the link http://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/REGAC/about/submissions#authorGuideline for further details.

Abstract Submission:
Abstracts will be sent to REGAC2019gmail.com under the heading “Indigenous Epistemologies”, along with the author’s name. Abstracts must be sent in two formats (WORD and PDF), accompanied by the following details:
a) the title of the paper.
b) the author’s name, their institutional affiliation, and their email.
c) keywords for the paper, both in English and Spanish.
d) a brief bio of the author (10 lines).

Important Dates for Submission:
The deadline for sending abstracts is the 15 July 2019. The Editorial Board will then evaluate and select the abstracts, notifying participants of the acceptance of their proposal no later than 30 days after the deadline. The deadline for full articles is the 31 October 2019.

Collaborating Entities:
The R+D Project: Critical Cartography of Art and Visuality in the Global Age. III Part (I+D MICINN: HAR2016-75100-P).
Research Group GRC: Art, Globalization, Interculturality AGI/ART II (2017 SGR 577), Generalitat de Catalunya.