Colour and contemporary visual culture

International Colloquium / Colloque International
26 - 29 May 2005/ 26 - 29 mai 2005
Herstmonceux Castle (Sussex, UK)/ Château de Herstmonceux (Sussex, GB)

Deadline: 15 Jan 2005

What is colour? Certainly not only, as the dictionary states, a mere
'sensation resulting from stimulation of the retina of the eye by light
waves'? It is much more than that: a vast cultural and social phenomenon
that affects the lives of individuals and of society as a whole.

This conference will interrogate those intricate and wide-ranging cultural
and social implications of colour within an interdisciplinary and
international context. It will investigate such vital matters as: How do
people perceive colour and articulate colour? Can one speak of the
language of colour? What are the impacts upon fields and areas such as
art, painting, architecture, film, fashion, commerce and politics? How do
we perceive and assess a psychology of colour? Do colours have a healing
power?

The dictionary also states that colour refers to 'the skin of a person not
classified as Caucasian'. How do we examine the implications and effects
of this historical use of the definition of colour, and what are the
contemporary imperatives in this debate?

These are the questions confronting the researchers engaged in the
interdisciplinary project The Sense of Colour': a conference being held on
26 - 29 May 2005 at Herstmonceux Castle (Sussex, UK). Our aim is to offer
fresh and original critical explorations of colour in particular on the
following:

1. The perception of colour
2. The uses and strategies of colour
3. Ethnicity and colour
4. The language of colour
5. Colour in visual art and cinema
6. Politics and colour

Within these categories, specific orientations will be proposed.

There will also be one or two sessions in French under the title: Les
Couleurs en question.

URL: www.cultural-intersections.org/www_2005_colour/clrwelcome_e.html