Identity and the Construction of Space.

Understanding the complex relationship between space and identity has become increasingly urgent in the context of ever widening geopolitical conflict. The ways in which space is built, designed, occupied and experienced profoundly shapes how individuals and communities see themselves, and how they are seen by others. The impact of the expanding digital space on this dynamic requires greater consideration as does its role in erasing marginalised voices.

Recognising space and place as socially and culturally constructed, the conference draws attention to the often-unseen power relations that shape spatial environments. We invite researchers, artists and curators to consider how identity is formed, represented, experienced, and contested through spatial frameworks in visual culture. This conference aims to foster a critical dialogue between national, transnational, postcolonial, and global perspectives, highlighting the fluid process of space making across both physical and virtual worlds.

Keynote Speaker:
Professor Emilie Sitzia (University of Amsterdam/University of Maastricht)

Who is this for?
All are welcome. Speakers include PhD students at any stage of their research, including international scholars and practice-researchers.

Attendance free with advance booking. Please follow this link for registration: https://members.forarthistory.org.uk/events/68de73133448590008d2a760/description?ticket=68de73133448590008d2a75f

Programme

10:50 – 11:00 GMT: Welcome from the Association for Art History

11:00 – 12:00 GMT: Panel 1 – Borders and Geopolitics

Photographing the Border: Space, Identity, and Power in the Russian–Norwegian Borderlands, Anna Sejbæk Torp-Pedersen (KU Leuven, Belgium)

Painting, Photography and Contested Histories: Lucknow and Space Making Before the Annexation of Awadh, Aqsa Ashraf (St Andrews University, UK)

Jet Age Fashionscape: Fashion, Travel, and the Politics of Mobility in 1960s American Fashion Photography, Weerada Muangsook (St Andrews University, UK)

12:00 – 12:50 GMT: Panel 2 – Curation and Exhibition Histories

Experiencing Meiji Japan in London Art Galleries, c.1880s-90s, Jin Chenxiao (St Andrews University, UK) [Pecha-Kucha Presentation]

East Asia’s New Palace Museum – Interpretations of the Hong Kong Edition, Cui Yifang (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)

Writing, Picture, and Image: Forms of Telling a History of Contemporary Brazilian Art in the Global Biennial Context, Caroline Fucci (University of Leicester, UK) [Pecha-Kucha Presentation]

12:50 – 13:40 GMT: Lunch Break

13:40 – 14:50 GMT: Panel 3 – Alternative Approaches to Space

Threads of Humour: Embroidery as a Space for Subversive Laughter, Galina Ignatenko (Aarhus University, Denmark)

Multiple Fictions as Spatial Practice: Reimagining Gendered Narratives through Installation, Wenyi Pan (Edinburgh University, UK) [Curatorial and Artist Showcase]

Un/Finished Basements in Postwar Canada: Unearthing a History of Constructed Representations of Underground Domestic Space, Romy Poletti (Carleton University, Canada)

Drifting in the Murky Realms: Ambiguity as Method in Contemporary Art, Sujin Jung (Indiana University, Bloomington, USA)

14:50 – 15:00 GMT: Break

15:00 – 16.00 GMT

Keynote Address: Museum spaces as sites of identity negotiation

Professor Emilie Sitzia

This lecture will investigate the museum as a space of identity negotiation and question the various roles played by the visual arts within this negotiation process. First, various definitions of identity will be explored to frame our discussion. Then, looking at concrete case studies, this lecture will present a sort of typology of the various agencies of museum spaces while exploring the mechanisms at play.

16.00 – 16.10 GMT: Break

16.10 – 17.00 GMT: Panel 4 – Histories, Violence and Resistance

Re-Historicizing Publics in Toronto, Canada: Camille Turner’s Sonic Walks and Afronautic Research Lab as Ephemeral and Participatory Archiving, Emily Putnam (Carleton University, Canada)

Voices of Resistance: From Conflict to Creation, Nazima Rangwala Kalita (Northumbria University, UK)

Bison Residual Fields, Sam Bell (SOAS, University of London, UK) [Curatorial and Artist Showcase]

17.00 – 17:10 GMT: Closing Remarks
Man Li and Isaac Nugent, Co-Convenors, Global New Voices Conference
Doctoral and Early Career Research Committee (DECR), Association for Art History

Conference Page: https://forarthistory.org.uk/events/global-new-voices-2025/