CePoG - Centre for Postcolonial and Gender Studies at the University Trier
(Germany) presents:

CONFERENCE

Slavery in Contemporary Art.
An Interdisciplinary Conference on Trauma, Memory and Visuality

Date: October 26-28, 2006

Conference location: Volkshochschule Trier, Palais Walderdorff,
Domfreihof 1b, D-54290 Trier, Germany

Slavery, both in its historical and modern forms, continues to be a matter
of undiminished political and social relevance. This is mirrored by an
increasing interest in historical research as well as by critical statements
from within the field of contemporary art. Since the 1980s there have been
numerous artists creating alternative images of how to remember slavery,
thus setting new directions for coming to terms with its racist
after-effects. How are these concepts to be evaluated? Do they provide
insights into the history of mentalities and affects that cannot otherwise
be gained? In which way do they relate to cultural processes of coping with
slavery, for example the performative and oral histories in Africa and the
Caribbean or the visual approaches in European art history?

This international conference is designed to bring together artists and
scholars from various disciplines discussing trauma and visuality, or, more
precisely, strategies of memory and denial within visual discourse. The main
focus will be on critical discussions of psychoanalytic approaches to
trauma within the cultural studies and from a postcolonial point of view.
Images of slavery and their critical reviewing through contemporary art
should be considered as documenting cultural understanding, denial or
disclosure of historical traumata and their impact on following generations.
A special emphasis will be on West African cultural studies and their
approach to historical, local and current events in the context of slavery.
Are there any traces of trauma to be found in these visual representations?
What part do the various kinds of media play in the re-negotiation of
history? This conference intends to establish the research of slavery within
the fields of cultural studies in the German-speaking countries. Its aim is
to develop a transculturally differentiated paradigm of images, which
allows for an international exchange of visual cultures of memory.

PROGRAMME

Thursday, October 26, 2006

12.00 - 13.00
Registration

13.00 - 13.15
Welcome & Introductory Remarks
Jun. Prof. Alexandra Karentzos (CePoG)
Melanie Ulz, Birgit Haehnel

Session I: Trauma and Memory

13.15 - 14.15
Dr. Martina Kopf (Institute of African Studies, University of Vienna)
"Trauma, Narrative, and the Art of Witnessing"

14.15 - 15.15
Prof. Ibrahima Thioub (Department of History, University of Dakar)
"Memories of Slavery in Africa and Their Impact on African Historiography"

15.15 - 15.30 Coffee break

15.30 - 16.30
Prof. Detlef Hoffmann (Art History, University of Oldenburg)
"Traces of Traumatisation in the Visual Arts"

16.30 -17.30
Prof. Viktoria Schmidt-Linsenhoff (Art History, University of Trier)
"After Images. Visual Representations and Amnesia"

20.00 Dinner

Friday, October 27, 2006

Session II: Remembering in Different Media

09.15 - 10.15
Melanie Ulz (Art History, University of Trier)
"Turner's Slave Ship. Memory and Cultural Denial in a Post-Abolitionist
Society"

10.15 - 11.15
Prof. LeGrace Benson (Center for Black Studies, University of California,
Santa Barbara)
"Slavery Overcome. A Major Theme in Haitian Art"

11.15 - 11.30 Coffee break

11.30 - 12.30
Adelheid Pichler (Social and Cultural Anthropology, Austrian Academy of
Science, Vienna)
"Slavery in Contemporary Art and Ritual Performance. Reflections on Palo
Monte Mayombe in Cuba"

12.30 - 13.30
Emiel Martens (Department of Media Studies, University of Amsterdam)
"Remembrance, Struggle, and Resistance in Contemporary Jamaican Film"

13.30 - 15.00 Lunch break

Session III: Art and Memory in West Africa

15.00 - 16.00
Prof. Joseph Adandé (Art History, University of Cotonou)
"Slavery in Contemporary Art"

16.00 -17.00
Didier Houénoudé (Art History, University of Trier)
"Monuments and Locations of Memory in Senegal and Benin"

17.00 - 17.15 Coffee break

17.15 - 18.15
Romuald Hazoumé (Artist, Porto Novo)
"'La bouche du Roi' Esclavage d'aujourd'hui"

20.30 - 21.30 Evening Program

Heike Kuhlmann (Dancer and Choreographer, Berlin)
"To be looked at"

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Session IV: Re-Negotiating History

9.15 - 10.15
Birgit Haehnel (Art History, CePoG, University of Trier)
"Racism Without Colonies. Raising New Questions About Austrian History"

10.15 -11.15
Petra Meyer (Art History, Academy of Fine Arts, Nürnberg)
"Inside the Story: Kara Walker and William Kentridge"

11.15 - 11.30 Coffee break

11.30 - 12.30
Dr. Christina Sharpe (Department of English, Tufts University Medford,
Boston)
"Kara Walker's Monstrous Intimacies"

12.30 - 13.30
Prof. Sabine Broeck (American Studies (Literature), University of
Bremen)
"Toni Morrison's Beloved and the Excess of Trauma"

13.30 - 15.00 Lunch break

15.00 - 16.00
Pélagie Gbaguidi (Artist, Brüssel)
"The Black Code"

16.00 - 16.45
Final Discussion

INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION:
website: http://www.uni-trier.de/cepog
email: Slavery-Conferenceweb.de

The conference language is English

Registration fee: students - 5,- Euro / working people 15,- Euro

CONCEPT AND ORGANISATION:
Birgit Haehnel, Melanie Ulz

Koordinationsstelle für Postcolonial und Gender Studies der Universität
Trier (CePoG)
FB III, Kunstgeschichte, A 245
D-54286 Universität Trier
Phone +49 (0)651 201 2121
Fax +49 (0)651 201 3850

FUNDING:
The conference is supported by DFG - Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft,
Nikolaus Koch Stiftung and Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Weiterbildung,
Forschung und Kultur Rheinland- Pfalz.