CFP: 'The Forgotten Surrealists: Belgian Surrealism 1924 - 1981'
(AAH, Bristol, 31.3 - 2.4. 2005)

CALL FOR PAPERS

Association of Art Historians Annual Conference: 'Conception: Reception'
(University of Bristol, UK, 31.3 - 2.4. 2005)

Academic Session: 'The Forgotten Surrealists: Belgian Surrealism 1924 - 1981'

Session Abstract:

The current renewed academic interest in and focus on surrealism has
revealed new aspects of the movement. From the centralisation of
previously marginalized figures to the fruitful application of
methodological enquiry, recent academic research has contributed much to
our understanding of surrealism. However, these attempts to rethink and
reconceptualise it have repeatedly neglected the surrealist movement in
Belgium. While discussions of Belgian surrealism can be found in French
criticism in the 1970s, there has been little development since,
especially in the U. S. and Britain. It is symptomatic of this
marginalisation that whilst writings on and by French surrealists have
been translated, there are few translations of works by and about Belgian
surrealists. Yet, any understanding of surrealism is incomplete without
taking into account the Belgian context.

This session proposes therefore to offer focused and rigorous discussions
of Belgian surrealism. It seeks to investigate the movement as well as
individual artists and close associates such as Pol Bury, Paul Delvaux,
Jane Graverol, Paul Joosten, Marcel - G. Lefrancq, René Magritte, Marcel
Mariën, E.L.T. Mesens, Paul Nougé, Max Servais, Armand Simon, André
Souris, Raoul Ubac and others. What are the specific features of Belgian
surrealism and how does it relate to other surrealisms? How can its
aesthetic concepts and practices be related to a specifically Belgian
context? What distinctive aesthetic practices characterise Belgian
surrealism? What are the politics of Belgian surrealism? How did
divisions, diasporas and internal differences influence Belgian
surrealism? How do Belgian surrealist periodicals announce the
avant-garde? What connections did Belgian surrealists make with other
avant-garde movements (for example Dadaism, Lettrism, Situationism,
Cobra)? How can new methodological frameworks be applied to analyse the
oeuvre of specific artists of the movement? How do its conceptions alter
or challenge established understandings of surrealism?

Papers addressing these issues will be sought from art historians and
museum professionals.

Details for Submission of Abstracts:

Papers must not exceed 30 minutes. Please email a 200 word abstract to the
session convenor before the 1st November 2004. Include the title of your
paper, your full name and contact details and institutional affiliation
(if applicable).

Patricia Allmer, School of Art and Design, Loughborough University, LE11
3TU, UK. searsallmer.fsnet.co.uk

Please note that the call for papers for all the conference sessions will
be published in the June edition of the AAH Bulletin and at the AAH
website: www.aah.org.uk