Revisiting /Revising the Avant-Garde. 2-3 July 2009.

Visual and Material Culture Research Centre
Kingston University, London.

The concept of the avant-garde is arguably the most important and
influential one in the history of modern art, but it is a notion often
left unexamined. We are prompted to ask - which avant-garde? In the
context of the recent popularity of a return to the issues of
modernism within contemporary art and criticism, this conference
proposes a critical re-engagement with the theory, histories and
politics of the avant-garde.

The conference is intended to make original connections between a
range of moments in the history of the artistic avant-garde, and to
explore its relevance for contemporary cultural and social issues. It
will focus, in particular, on the endurance of avant-garde approaches
across the twentieth-century and their contemporary resonances.

We welcome proposals on the theory and politics of the avant-garde,
particular moments in its history and its legacies, and how avant-
garde artefacts are now collected, preserved, digitized or otherwise
kept in existence.

Keynote speakers include Nicholas Bourriaud, Sylvère Lotringer and
Franco 'Bifo' Berardi.

Please send 200 word abstracts to G.Grindonkingston.ac.uk by Wed 18th
April 2009.