in the Global Context" (Berlin, Oct. 22-24, 2009)

Call for Papers:

International Graduate Conference

NEGOTIATING DIFFERENCE
CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ART IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXT

Institution: Department of East Asian Art History, Institute of Art
History,
Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Date: October 22-24, 2009
Venue: House of World Culture, Berlin, Germany
Head: Prof. Dr. Jeong-hee Lee-Kalisch
Concept: Birgit Hopfener and Franziska Koch
Organization: Dr. Juliane Noth and Ronald Kiwitt

DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS: APRIL 6, 2009

Contemporary Chinese art has lately become a topic of in-depth academic
research. The international graduate conference Negotiating Difference
looks
at contemporary Chinese art in a global context and focuses on questions of
methodology.

Whether considered from a discursive, institutional or object-centered
perspective, contemporary Chinese art always involves aspects of a globally
informed locality and a locally affected globality. To account for the
complexity of this phenomenon, the analysis of contemporary Chinese art
requires a transcultural perspective.
Consequently, the conference attempts to challenge prevailing research
approaches that either stress global similarities based on a mainly
'Western' notion of art or attempt to discern a 'Chinese identity'.

Negotiating Difference will question these ontological essentialist views
as
well as generalizing relativist ones. Alternatively, contemporary Chinese
art can be conceived as evolving out of processes of negotiated difference,
continuous acts of translation in the 'Third Space'.
In this perspective, Chinese art needs to be (re-)contextualized, taking
into account its spatial relations (locally, nationally and globally) as
well as its temporal conditions from a contemporary and historical
perspective.

In general, contemporary Chinese art lends itself to current art historical
debates as an ideal object of research.
Since postmodern art theories in the 1970/80s, art research has not only
increasingly turned to the contemporary artistic production, but also to
'non-Western' art due to the interdisciplinary 'post-colonial turn'.
Following this heightened awareness of the Eurocentric foundations of art
history as a discipline, the conference is taking Chinese art as a showcase
in order to confront the controversial question
'Is art (history) global?'(

This international graduate conference is specifically designed to meet the
needs of young scholars (Ph.D. candidates and Postdoctoral fellows) in this
fast growing field of research. The conference aims at providing a platform
for the discussion of methodological questions and to enhance future
networking internationally.
The workshop nature of the program facilitates bringing together young
scholars and distinguished experts of academic research and artistic
practice.
In addition to the senior speakers' keynotes, the program consists of six
thematic sections with talks by junior speakers. Each section is headed by
an expert, who will respond to the talks at the end of the section.
The conference will be concluded by a panel discussion concerning the
current state of research and future perspectives.

Keynote speakers:
Prof. John Clark (Sydney, Australia)
Prof. Hans Belting (Karlsruhe, Germany) (tbc)

Thematic sections:

I. Contemporary Chinese art in the transnational and transcultural context.
Questions of the aesthetic and discursive practice

The global production of contemporary art seems determined by discourses of
(post-) modernity. This section questions their relevance for contemporary
Chinese art. It will analyze the relation between 'Western', 'Chinese' and
'hybrid' notions of art in this context and will ask how Chinese art
reflects itself and is reflected in a global discourse.

II. Contemporary Chinese art in an Asian context

Given the recent widespread tendency to highlight the notion of "Asia"1,
this section is concerned with culturally specific 'Asian' tendencies in
contemporary art. What can be gained by a perspective that takes Asia into
account while looking at the contemporary artistic production in China?
The focus is on papers linking the development of contemporary Chinese art
to the artistic development in other (East) Asian countries. Furthermore,
those comparing artworks, discourses or practices are of particular
interest.

III. Contemporary Chinese art between past and future. Transitions,
fractions and the negotiation of tradition

This section examines the role of Chinese art traditions within
contemporary
artistic production. In addition to the examination of motifs, themes and
styles, the aim is to investigate to what extent traditional notions of
art,
their different structural and functional definitions still inform today's
production and reflection of art in China.

IV. Gender, Urbanism, and Politics. Contemporary Chinese art from specific
thematic perspectives

This section will provide a forum for speakers with very specific thematic
approaches, which stand out in the field as important discourses in their
own right. Papers reflecting on gender, the urban and political
implications
of contemporary Chinese art and methodological challenges in these realms
of
research are encouraged to apply.

V. Contemporary Chinese art and its spaces of production

The impact of academy, studio, and 'factory' as paradigmatic spaces of
production are at the heart of this section. It deals with various impacts
that institutions and sites of artistic formation, individual practice and
industrialized production have on contemporary Chinese art. Papers
analyzing
the history or structures of Chinese academic training, studio-related
practices or the recent rapid transformation of the studio into a
factory-like site of industrialized production are preferred.

VI. Contemporary Chinese art and its spaces of reception: museum, market,
and meaning

a) Contemporary Chinese art 'on display'
This sub-section seeks to examine and expound the problems of curatorial
concepts and exhibition strategies involved with contemporary Chinese art.
In addition, its increasing institutionalization and considerable
integration in public museums and private collections will be questioned.

b) Structures of the distribution of contemporary Chinese art
The topic of this sub-section is the discussion of economic (art market)
and
ideological (art criticism) structures of distribution concerned with, and
vital for, the (historical) development of contemporary Chinese art.

The conference will be held in the House of World Cultures during
the 7th Asia-Pacific Weeks in Berlin providing a framework with additional
Asia-related events. During the time of the conference the HWC will exhibit
parts of Qiu Zhijie's ongoing art project "A Suicidology of the Nanjing
Yangtze River Bridge".

APPLICATION:

Papers should relate to one of the sections described above and should not
exceed a length of 20 minutes (max. 3500 words). The conference language is
English.

Travel expenses and accommodation costs during the conference will be
covered for the speakers.

Please send an abstract (max. 400 words) in English and a short CV (1-2
pages) explaining your interest in the topic and giving your institutional
affiliation, a list of publications (if applicable), as well as the full
mail and email addresses including a telephone number.

The deadline for abstracts is April 6, 2009.

Please send your application to
Email: rkiwittyahoo.de (Ronald Kiwitt) and
Email: nothzedat.fu-berlin.de (Dr. Juliane Noth)

Phone: ++49-30-838 54520
Fax: ++49-30-838 53810
Website: http://www.fu-berlin.de/ostasien-khi

Prof. Dr. Jeong-hee Lee-Kalisch
Freie Universität Berlin
Kunsthistorisches Institut
Ostasiatische Kunstgeschichte
Koserstr. 20
D-14195 Berlin
Germany