Call for Papers: "Dramatic Architectures: Places of Power and Places of Freedom", at
CEAA - Centro de Estudos Arnaldo Araújo, Porto.

Architecture and performing arts always had a close relationship and their connections are becoming more and a more a promising field of research for scholars and artists.

Both fields, however, have a long association with power, with political oppression and propaganda, but also with a claim to individual and artistic freedom. From the Renaissance theatre built and staged to the eyes of princes to political theatre, from Shakespeare exaltation of power to Boal’s Invisible Theatre, theatrical spaces were always spaces to enact, represent, contest power, in the ambiguous area between personal freedom and collective impositions.

Ten years after the Dramatic Architectures. Places of Drama – Drama for Spaces International Conference, and four years after Dramatic Architectures: Theatre and Performing Arts in Motion, which brought together dozens of researchers from different countries, we wish to proceed the debate around questions of space design, performance design, dramaturgy and architecture, to understand how contemporary performing arts are addressing the more pressing political issues of today.

We welcome papers that offer new insights on the topic by exploring themes such as: representations of power, theatrical spaces as spaces of subversion and protest, contested spaces, performing in public spaces, the relationship between political issues and theatrical spaces, dramaturgy of power, public performances in marginal or liminal spaces, etc.

But we are also interested in creating a theoretical framework based on common ground between architecture and performing arts, such as the problems of space and the use of light as a design device, besides case studies and interpretations of architectural, dramaturgical and performative experiences.

We welcome proposals for 20-minute presentations in English, which should include:
- Title of the proposal
- Applicant’s identification (name, institution, country, position and email)
- Abstract (up to 300 words)
- Short curriculum vitae (up to 100 words)

Proposals must be sent by filling in the abstract proposal form: https://forms.gle/ynHyK2M2d4MJbwJs5

After the conference, the best papers will be invited to be published in a peer-review publication.

Important dates:
Deadline for abstract submission – October 1, 2024
Notification of acceptance of abstract – October 30, 2024
Deadline for Registration – November 18, 2020
Conference – December 4-6, 2024

International Conference funded by national funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., within the projects UIDB/04041/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/04041/2020) - Arnaldo Araújo Research Centre.