Call For Paper

"Public Sphere" in Post-Socialist Cultural Discourse

October 20-24th 2005

The Armenian Association of Art Critics (AAAC) invites you to a 4-day
symposium in Yerevan, Armenia.

One can regard the notion of "public sphere" as missing in official politics
of former Soviet Union. Given the Soviet past of Armenia (and the mnemonic
present of USSR¹s specter) the issues concerning "public sphere" in
post-socialist Armenia are not yet elucidated. The symposium would be the
first public activity to theoretically address the issue in post-Soviet
Armenia. Anyhow the outline of the main questions regarding "public sphere"
in post-Soviet Armenia can be defined as follows:

1. How is it possible to speak of public sphere in post-socialist context?

2. How "public sphere" differs from the "collective life" propagated in the
former USSR?

3. What role does "public sphere" play in formation of subjectivities and
identities?

4. What role do technologies play in these processes?

5. What are the focal points or "tangible" embodiments of "public sphere"?

6. Can contemporary art be regarded as "public sphere"?

These and such issues will put our discussion right between "the
technological present" and "the ideological past" of Armenian cultural
discourse. Recalling the socialist past and re-constructing the post
socialist present involve a process of de-construction and re-evaluation of
past as well as that of present. However, this is done with the recognition
that both remembering and forgetting, and the process of
institutionalization of memory are highly selective processes affected by
social conditions and power relations. The symposium will give a possibility
for both sides to verify (or falsify) one's own idea of "public sphere" in
direct communication with the other side. If this be successful, we may
hope to make the symposium itself some "public sphere" where different
discourses can reevaluate and redefine themselves through the Other.

The symposium ""Public Sphere" in Post-Socialist Cultural Discourse"
invites art historians and theorists and representatives of other
relevant disciplines to meditate upon the mentioned topics and the
issues rising from them.

The symposium will take place from October 20-24th. Those who are interested
in taking part in the symposium as a speaker or suggesting a panel, can
submit a proposal and a short CV.
The deadline for submissions is August 30th.

If you have any questions, regarding the symposium, please, do not hesitate
to contact us:
Angela Harutyunyan:
E mail: a.harutyunyaniu-bremen.de
Tel.: +49 421 240 3696,
Vardan Azatyan
E mail: vazatyannetsys.am
Tel.: + 3741 253343 or
Nazaret Karoyan
E mail: nazaretnetsys.am

--
Prof. Dr. Isabel Wünsche <i.wunscheiu-bremen.de>
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
International University Bremen, Germany
Tel.: +49 421 200-3311 Fax: +49 421 200-49-3311
Tel.: +49 421 200-3311 Fax: +49 421 200-49-3311
http://www.iu-bremen.de/directory/faculty/iwunsche/