Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory Graduate Symposium and
Exhibition Call for Papers: ?Sights/Sites of Spectacle?

The 29th Annual University of British Columbia, Department of Art
History, Visual Art and Theory Graduate Symposium and Exhibition - Call
for Papers: ?Sights/Sites of Spectacle?

In 2010, the city of
Vancouver will become the site of an immense international spectacle.
On the eve of the Olympic Games, the 29th Annual UBC Art History,
Visual Art and Theory (AHVA) Graduate Symposium and Exhibition will
engage with the notion of spectacle as both theoretical concept and
historical phenomenon. The symposium will take place in conjunction
with an exhibition of artwork that will critically examine the
mechanisms of our spectacular culture. Performance, subjectivity,
power, agency, and mediation have been central to the theorization of
spectacle. In his oft-cited The Society of the Spectacle (1967), Guy
Debord presents the modern spectacle as hinging on, and being
indicative of, issues of economic control, disempowerment, and mass
consumerism. Shifting the study of spectacle to contexts beyond those
of capitalist consumption, postmodernist and poststructuralist scholars
have worked to deconstruct the rhetoric of empire, the symbolic uses of
political power, and the ontological categories of race, gender, and
sexuality as they relate to various kinds of spectacle. In pre-modern
and early-modern contexts, scholars have nuanced our understanding of
spectacles by viewing them in conjunction with other concepts ? such as
the carnivalesque ? that interrogate the structure and negotiation of
power within social relationships.

Spectacle as historical
event, object or experience forcefully intersects with modes of
perception. From ancient times to the present day, ceremonies,
exhibitions, festivals, and rituals have all functioned in accordance
with a posited or present spectator, there to witness and respond to
the proffered display. Spectacles have taken on diverse and contested
forms, including public executions, religious processions, civic
pageants, athletic events, international fairs, scientific
demonstrations, urban designs, military conflicts, advertising
campaigns, art auctions, and the display of various technologies.
Regardless of its manifestation, a spectacle is never neutral. In each
case, it engages with its respective publics in the formation of
meanings that challenge or support individuals, groups, or institutions
pursuing economic and political control. Undeniably, an understanding
of spectacle is relevant to scholars, artists, and activists who seek
to address current political and social climates or pursue a more
critical approach to historical phenomena.

The 29th Annual AHVA
Graduate Symposium and Exhibition sets out to explore a range of
readings and interpretations of this theme and therefore welcomes
proposals from all disciplines. The organizing committee seeks
proposals for papers and presentations from emerging scholars,
including current and recently graduated Masters, Doctoral students,
and Post-Doctoral scholars. Please apply with an abstract of no more
than 300 words by November 15, 2009. Include your full name,
institutional affiliation, and contact information when you send your
abstract and CV to: gradsympinterchange.ubc.ca, with your first and last
name, and the words ?Paper Submission? in the subject line of your email.
Accepted
academic research-based or theoretical papers are not to exceed 10-12
pages in length. Successful presenters are required to submit an
electronic copy of their presentation to conference organizers for
review two weeks prior to the start of the conference.

The AHVA
Graduate Symposium and Exhibition will take place on January 29th and
30th, 2010 on the Vancouver campus of the University of British
Columbia. The symposium will be organized into loosely thematic panels
in order to facilitate collegial and constructive dialogue and the
investigation of cross-disciplinary connections.

For those who
are concerned about accommodations in Vancouver so close to the start
of the Olympics, please be advised that the committee has successfully
reserved affordable hotel rooms for the conference. The 29th Annual
AHVA Graduate Symposium will take place in conjunction with the
exhibition Sights/Sites of Spectacle. For more information on the
symposium and exhibition, please visit
the AHVA website at:
http://ahva.ubc.ca/infoDisplay.cfm?Keyword=Graduate%20Symposium

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