[1] Design History in Canada: Local and Global Contexts
Organizer: Sara Shields-Rivard
Deadline: 05/31/2026

This panel considers the shape and constraints of Canadian design history, bridging visual and material culture studies. The discipline of design history has long privileged British narratives and marginalized contributions from former colonies, including Canada (Fry, 1989). Academic scholarship seeks to situate Canadian design within a global canon, yet local institutions often subsume design under adjacent disciplines rather than treating it as a distinct field, unlike dedicated design museums abroad. The 2019 closure of the Design Exchange and the dispersal of its collection to the Royal Ontario Museum and the Canadian Museum of History underscores pressing challenges in preserving design heritage, despite digital initiatives like the xDX Project. As questions of national identity resurface, this panel examines how Canada contributes to local and global design histories through scholarship, exhibitions, collections, and institutional frameworks. Proposals in English or French are welcome, particularly those addressing colonialism, race, and gender.

Keywords: design, nationalism, collecting, heritage, global

Session proposals should be submitted directly to the session chair, Sara Shields-Rivard (22ssrqueensu.ca) using the CFP submission form, downloadable here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CvB76UPXZWMgee6cOxzHWtuP9mZcwZ3WJADPEW_rvsI/export?format=docx. Proposals are to be 250 words, accompanied by a biography of 150 words.

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[2] Prototyping Commemorative Art Practices for the Present
Organizer: Analays Alvarez Hernandez
Deadline: 05/31/2026

In recent years, monuments have come under scrutiny because many continue to celebrate colonialism, racism, and other forms of systemic oppression. Institutional responses have included removal, relocation to museums, the placement of explanatory plaques, and the erection of new monuments. While such measures may be productive, they often leave fundamental questions unresolved: who decides what is remembered in public space, by what forms and materials, for whom, and for how long? If public commemorative art, traditionally a medium for consolidating hegemonic narratives, is expected to foreground a plurality of histories and experiences, then it must undergo a radical transformation. This panel seeks to bring together case studies from around the world that examine how artists or public art initiatives, such as Monument Lab, challenge inherited commemorative subjects, historical forms, public engagement, temporal conventions, and materials. Nous acceptons des propositions en anglais et en français.

To submit: Proposals should be submitted directly to the session chair, Analays Alvarez Hernandez (analays.alvarezumontreal.ca) using the CFP submission form, downloadable here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-oduiFlFKMgHUG7SfiIG2NQWIX4M9CEUjS4vmF8gonY/edit?tab=t.0

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Additional information about the conference can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-oduiFlFKMgHUG7SfiIG2NQWIX4M9CEUjS4vmF8gonY/edit?tab=t.0.