CFP Jul 27, 2024

4 Sessions at CAA (New York, 12-15 Feb 25)

New York, NY, Feb 12–15, 2025
Deadline: Aug 29, 2024

ArtHist.net Redaktion

[1] Containers of a World to Come: Seeds and Global Contemporary Art
[2] Visibility and Visuality after the 'Transgender Tipping Point'
[3] Art and Work
[4] Spectacles of Nationhood: World's Fairs and Italian Identity Formation

----------------------------------------
[1] Containers of a World to Come: Seeds and Global Contemporary Art

From: Svea Braeunert, svea.braeunertfh-potsdam.de
Date: July 25, 2024

At a moment when ecological concerns—and their relation to questions of social justice, power imbalances, and colonial conditions—are increasingly urgent, the seed has emerged in global contemporary art as a portal for sustained critical inquiry into plant-human-land relations. Seeds are ordinary and indispensable—the first link in the food chain, the embodiment of biological and cultural diversity, and the repository of life’s future evolution. The diversity of seeds is at risk, however, due to the growth of industrial agriculture and the so-called Green Revolution. Artists such as Beatriz Cortez, Kapwani Kiwanga, and Jumana Manna, work with the spatial-temporal politics of seeds, homing in on their colonial legacies and radical futures. Their works raise questions about preservation practices and the socio-political dynamics of plant histories across different parts of the globe. Understanding the seed and its place in contemporary art as an instance of what Tania Bruguera has defined as “political-timing-specific art,” we seek proposals for 20-minute presentations by scholars, curators, and artists that address the way artists engage the aesthetic and political properties of seeds. How does looking at seeds (re-)focus attention? What kind of potential histories and speculative futures do they evoke? How does cultivation alter practices of world- and art-making? Papers may address topics including Indigenous science, the colonial history of botanical science, and paradoxes of preservation, among others.

Meredith Malone, Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis.
Svea Braeunert, University of Applied Sciences, Potsdam, Germany.

Please submit a presentation title and abstract (250 world limit) along with a short CV (2 pages) by August 29, 2024.

Presentations should be no more than 20 minutes.

Detailed submission instructions can be found here: https://caa.confex.com/caa/2025/webprogrampreliminary/meeting.html

--------------------------------------
[2] Visibility and Visuality after the 'Transgender Tipping Point'

From: Dylan Volk, dylanvumich.edu
Date: July 24, 2024

In 2014, TIME magazine declared a new epoch, characterized by a sudden and unprecedented increase in the cultural and political visibility of trans and gender-diverse people (Katy Steinmetz, “The Transgender Tipping Point,” TIME Magazine, June 9, 2014). Ten years later, the “transgender tipping point” has come and gone: trans people in the United States today face legislative attacks in forty-two states, growing threats of physical violence, and widespread backlash against trans-inclusive efforts. In other words, this once-celebrated increase in trans representation concurred, perhaps unsurprisingly, with a rise in anti-trans sentiment. This panel provides a forum for scholars of the visual to consider the state and stakes of trans visibility today. As Che Gossett and David Getsy note, art history has of yet trailed behind the other humanities in meaningfully engaging the interdisciplinary field of trans studies (David J. Getsy and Che Gossett, “A Syllabus on Transgender and Nonbinary Methods for Art and Art History,” Art Journal 80, no. 4 (October 2, 2021): 100–115, https://doi.org/10.1080/00043249.2021.1947710), and yet art historians and artists may be uniquely positioned to grapple with the present complexities of trans visibility politics. This panel seeks to assemble a group of historians and practitioners whose work directly addresses the problem and/or promise of trans representation; possible topics include strategies for visualizing the intricacies of trans life, trans critiques of the surveillance state, and trans rhetorics of passing or “going stealth,” among others.

Please submit your presentation title and abstract (250 words), and your CV through the CAA submission portal: https://caa.confex.com/caa/2025/webprogrampreliminary/Session14784.html

You are required to have a CAA account in order to submit a paper proposal, but you are not required to purchase CAA membership at this stage.

This session will be held on location at CAA in New York City. Please feel free to contact Dylan Volk (dylanvumich.edu) with any questions.

--------------------------------------
[3] Art and Work

From: Joshua Eversfield Jenkins, joshuaeversfield.jenkinsgmail.com
Date: July 24, 2024

A great deal of life is spent in toil. It is therefore understandable that some of the most significant works in the history of art, including Jean-François Millet’s The Sower (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1850), Ford Madox Brown’s Work (Manchester Art Gallery, 1852-1865) and Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry Murals (Detroit Institute of Arts, 1932-1933), depict people labouring. Whether to highlight struggles, virtues, injustices or triumphs, to satirise or glorify, to demand systemic change or defend the status quo, artists from a multitude of cultural and ideological backgrounds have been inspired by people working. The aim of this session, Art and Work is to provide an opportunity for scholars and practitioners to present their research or work and discuss interpretations of labour through art. Papers discussing art from any time period, genre and geographical location are welcome.

Expected topics include but are not limited to:

Rural and urban labour
Feminist critiques of labour
Capitalist and Socialist Realism
Working and middle class labour
Affective labour
Protest Art
Performative practices of labour
Environmental issues
Immigration
Artistic labour

Joshua Jenkins, Edinburgh College of Art , Prof. Juan Cruz, Ediburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh and Craig Martin, Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh.

We are very interested in submissions from scholars as well as artists that explore the relationship between art and work in a variety of ways.

If you would like to present, please submit an abstract (max 250 words); a CV (max 2 pages); and optionally, up to 5 images or documents that will support your application, to joshuaeversfield.jenkinsgmail.com.

--------------------------------------
[4] Spectacles of Nationhood: World's Fairs and Italian Identity Formation

From: Lucia Colombari, lucia.colombariou.edu
Date: July 24, 2024

Spectacles of Nationhood: World's Fairs and Italian Identity Formation

Chair: Lucia Colombari, University of Oklahoma

Throughout history, World’s Fairs have functioned as pivotal platforms for nations to showcase their cultural achievements, technological advancements, and ideological frameworks. This panel delves into the intricate dynamics between these expansive events and the process of nation-building in Italy. Situated at the crossroads between monumentality and modernity, World’s Fairs have provided Italy with a platform to (re)shape and assert its political and cultural identity following the unification in 1861, while fostering international relations and galvanizing Italian diasporic communities. Italy’s participation has often aimed to juxtapose its storied Renaissance and classical heritage with contemporary achievements and economic prowess, pursuing a complex negotiation between historical legacy and modernist trends. In turn, domestic socio-cultural shifts and international political turmoil paralleling specific expositions shaped the planning of Italian pavilions and the thematic exhibits.
Central inquiries of this panel encompass Italy’s strategic utilization of art, architecture, and exhibitionary practices, elucidating their contributions to shaping public perceptions and narratives surrounding its national character. Furthermore, this investigation explores the intricate entwinement of politics and art in cultivating and projecting national identity, illuminating the symbiotic relationship between socio-political agendas and aesthetic representations within the context of World’s Fairs.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- World’s Fairs and specialized expos (late 19th century- today).
- Italian pavilions (planning, production, and reception)
- Fine Arts exhibitions
- Thematic exhibits (e.g., science and technology)
- Italy as a host country
- Interpretation of historical themes
- Networks of exchange and encounters
- Impact of gender, race, and class
- World’s Fairs and fictions of colonialism
- Imperialism and Aesthetic Practices
- Cultural diplomacy and soft power
- Contemporary relevance of world's fairs

Deadline for submission: August 29, 2024.

Please submit your abstract through the CAA submission portal: https://caa.confex.com/caa/2025/webprogrampreliminary/Session14787.html

For questions about the panel, feel free to contact Lucia Colombari (lucia.colombariou.edu).

Reference:
CFP: 4 Sessions at CAA (New York, 12-15 Feb 25). In: ArtHist.net, Jul 27, 2024 (accessed Feb 18, 2025), <https://arthist.net/archive/42451>.

^