[1] Interwoven Histories: Mapping Genealogical Intersections of Craft and Computing
From: Ashley Scarlett
Date: May 12, 2026

It has become common to recognise computing's historical indebtedness to weaving and automation across the textile industry. Both Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace acknowledged the centrality of the Jacquard loom in designing their analytical engine, with Lovelace claiming the "Analytical engine weaves algebraic patterns just as the Jacquard loom weaves flowers and leaves." Scholars have begun mapping wider, shared genealogies of weaving and computing backwards through paper tape looms and algebraic weaving "programs" and forward across the Bauhaus weaving workshops, handweaver Janice Lourie's Textile Graphics Program, and e-textiles to demonstrate how deeply intertwined their histories are. Building upon this research, this panel seeks contributions that investigate historical and contemporary intersections between computation and craft more broadly. It asks: how have technologies, practices, and works aligned with craft informed or been informed by the computational? Of particular interest are art historical and technical case studies that have thus far been overlooked.

Proposals should be submitted directly to the session chair: Ashley Scarlett [ashley.scarlett at auarts.ca] using the CFP submission form downloadable from the conference url: https://uaac-aauc.com/conference/#single/0

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[2] The Palliative Museum : Welcoming Degradation in a Conservation Context
From: Anne-Sophie Miclo
Date: May 12, 2026

The Palliative Museum : Welcoming Degradation in a Conservation Context

How can wear and tear – both ordinary and unique – cease to be viewed by the museum as a failure that undermines its mission and instead become a meaningful element of memory? Long grounded in the ideal of material permanence, museum conservation is now compelled to rethink its foundations to accommodate variable or perishable works and artifacts, leading to a reconfiguration of documentary practices. Drawing on the concept of “accept-decay” (Muñoz-Viñas, 2024, pp. 269–270) – understood as the acceptance of deterioration – this panel explores how institutions today integrate alteration in different ways as a constitutive dimension of works, a shift that entails profound professional and epistemological reconfigurations. This bilingual session aims to bring together approaches from research, research-creation, and professional circles in art history and museology around concrete case studies. All periods, geographical areas, and methodological approaches are welcome.

To submit: Click to download the CFP submission form and email it to your chair. Include all fields: the applicant’s name, email address, affiliation and a brief biography (150 words max.), session selected and title of paper proposed with description (300 words max.) in English or French. Click here to fill out the form and please send it to the session chairs:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CvB76UPXZWMgee6cOxzHWtuP9mZcwZ3WJADPEW_rvsI/export?format=docx
Contact: Zoë Renaudie, Université de Montréal, zoe.renaudieumontreal.ca; Anne-Sophie Miclo, Université du Québec en Outaouais, anne-sophie.miclouqo.ca et Mélanie Boucher, Université du Québec en Outaouais, melanie.boucheruqo.ca.

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Le Musée palliatif : accueil de la dégradation en contexte de conservation

Comment l'usure, tant ordinaire que singulière, peut-elle cesser d'être considérée par le Musée en tant qu’échec symptomatique de sa mission et devenir une donnée mémorielle signifiante ? Longtemps fondée sur l'idéal de permanence matérielle, la conservation muséale est aujourd'hui contrainte de repenser ses fondements pour accompagner des œuvres et artefacts variables ou périssables, entraînant une reconfiguration des pratiques documentaires. À partir de la notion d'accept-decay (Muñoz-Viñas, 2024, p. 269-270) – entendue comme acceptation de la dégradation –, ce panel explore en quoi les institutions intègrent différemment à notre époque l'altération, comme dimension constitutive des œuvres, ce qui engage de profondes reconfigurations professionnelles et épistémologiques. Cette séance bilingue souhaite rassembler des approches issues de la recherche, de la recherche-création et des milieux professionnels en histoire de l'art et en muséologie autour d'études de cas concrets. Toutes les périodes, aires géographiques et approches méthodologiques sont les bienvenues.

Pour soumettre : téléchargez, complétez le formulaire "Appel à communications" et envoyez-le par courriel au(x) président·e·s de la séance, en incluant: le nom du candidat, son courriel, son affiliation et une biographie (150 mots max.), la séance choisie et le titre de la communication proposée avec une description (300 mots max.) en français ou en anglais.
Formulaire: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CvB76UPXZWMgee6cOxzHWtuP9mZcwZ3WJADPEW_rvsI/export?format=docx
Contact: Zoë Renaudie, Université de Montréal, zoe.renaudieumontreal.ca; Anne-Sophie Miclo, Université du Québec en Outaouais, anne-sophie.miclouqo.ca et Mélanie Boucher, Université du Québec en Outaouais, melanie.boucheruqo.ca.