Technologies and New Media
Date: 10/10/02

CALL FOR PAPERS

Articulating the New: Art Museums, New Technologies and New Media

A session at Articulations, the 29th Annual Conference of the Association of
Art Historians, Birbeck and University College London, 10-13 April 2003

Recent debates about art museums have focused on the way they not only
reflect, but also contribute to shape the culture(s) in which they are
immersed. Particularly relevant in the context of these debates, is the
functioning of museums as mass communicators with significant definitional
power. If we start from the premise that cultural circulation and social
exchange are influenced by the technical condition and the material form of
the media, then it seems timely to invite reflection on the opportunities
and the risks inherent in the use of new technologies in art museums. This
strand aims to explore two related areas:

- The use of new technologies and media to interpret art. Issues that could
be examined include: the adoption of new technologies as one response to the
demands for increased accessibility for more diverse audiences; the
possibilities opened by digital archives and databases; the deployment of
new technologies to compete with other participants in the culture and
leisure industries; and the effect of these strategies on the authority of
museums, their cultural role, and the messages they articulate.

- The challenge for museums to present works in new media meaningfully.
Among potential topics are interpretative devices that can help the public
appreciate works in new media; particular problems experienced by artists
and museums when they exhibit this type of art; and changes that may be
required in the traditional functions and spaces of art museums to provide
an adequate context for works in new media.

Papers are invited from a wide range of perspectives, from case studies to
critical analysis, with reference to any type of art museum. Please send
your proposal by 1 November 2002 to either of the convenors. Include with
your covering letter: the title of your paper, full name and contact
details, institutional affiliation (if any), and abstract of no more than
200 words. If you are an overseas speaker and need to apply for a British
Academy grant, please indicate this and state your travel costs. No one may
present more than one paper at the conference.

Maria Brown
Department of Art History
University of Auckland
Private Bag 92019
Auckland, New Zealand
Tel: (649) 373.7599 ext 8981
Fax: (649) 373.7014
Email maria.brownauckland.ac.nz

Elfriede Dreyer
Department of Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology
University of South Africa
P O Box 392
Pretoria 0003, South Africa
Tel: +27 (12) 429 6798 / 6582/ 6621
Fax: (012) 429 3556
Email Dreyeeunisa.ac.za

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