Call for Papers: Exhibition practices during war and conflict

Convenors:
Dr. Veronica Davies, Open University (veronicadavies4@aol.com
(mailto:veronicadavies4@aol.com) )
Dr. Sue Malvern, University of Reading (s.b.malvern@reading.ac.uk
(mailto:s.b.malvern@reading.ac.uk) )
DDr. Jutta Vinzent, University of Birmingham (j.vinzent@bham.ac.uk
(mailto:j.vinzent@bham.ac.uk) )
The session ‘Exhibition practices during war and conflict’ forms part of
the AAH2011 (Association of Art Historians) conference at the University
of Warwick, Coventry, England, 31 March – 2 April 2011
(http://www.aah.org.uk/page/3234
(http://www.aah.org.uk/page/3234) ).

Address for proposals of no more than 250 words, deadline: 8 Nov. 2010,
and inquiries:
DDr Jutta Vinzent, Department of History of Art, College of Arts and Law,
The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TS;
j.vinzent@bham.ac.uk (mailto:j.vinzent@bham.ac.uk)

Session details:
Art exhibitions during wartime may seem a contradiction in terms, even
more so when exhibitions are organised on the actual sites of conflict.
If the terms ‘art’ and ‘war’ appear incompatible, the art exhibition
seems even more a form of displaced activity, one which ought not to
be taking place.
Yet major wars have sometimes given rise almost to a renaissance in art
making, in London during World War II, for example. Exhibiting art during
the Spanish Civil War, for instance, was a means to advertise and solicit
support for different factions to a dispute, while in 1990s Sarajevo and
more recently in Lebanon, it has become a form of reparation and even
resistance to violent circumstances. As Naum Gabo argued, ‘war has no
creative element in it’, but ‘real creative art can be a good remedy for
it.’ The convenors invite proposals for papers which explore the role of
exhibitions during times of conflict. How does conflict affect the
exhibition practices (including exhibition places, choice of themes,
audiences) and with what conceptual implications (art historical writing
on exhibitions, what actually constitutes an exhibition, etc.)? Papers
may address the operations of the art market and art criticism in times
and at locations of conflict, consider exhibitions on the theme of war or
wartime exhibitions which have ignored or resisted violent contexts.