react/review: a responsive journal for art & architecture

In thinking through the theme of “tending to…” we repeatedly returned to, and wrestled with, the terms associated with it. “Tend” has two historical origins: one from the Latin tendere “to stretch,” and the other from the Middle English attenden “to attend.” These definitions imply a sense of bodily orientation, a “tending towards” a particular focal point or directionality (Ahmed, 2006). Colloquially, “tending to” is synonymously used with “care,” both emphasizing attention. Yet, how do we choose what to care about or direct our attention to? How then can we consider what it means for ourselves to “tend to…” something? With this issue, we want to put pressure on the perception of care and also invite expansions of our understanding of it through both theory and praxis. To theorize and conceptualize the idea of ‘care’ is to work through a concept that can be easily dismissed, romanticized, or, at worst, not be placed under any pressure to unpack its complexity (Adams, 2014). This understanding of care as lacking depth may also show up in its relationship to tenderness: an action that, on its face, might equate with gentleness, but is itself revolutionary and a deliberate action of survival and collectivity (Lorde, 1984, 2007). But the topic of care and “tending to…” permeates our everyday relationships with one another, on social media, and politically. Through their repetitive use, these terms gain cultural relevance yet have the potential to lose impact and meaning over time.

The editors of react/review––a peer review, open-access digital journal dedicated to research by emerging scholars––seek essays for Volume 7 that consider these themes of “tending to…” and care. We invite submissions that consider how, as scholars and makers, we ‘tend to’ the very materials that constitute our intellectual and, at times, personal lives. With placing pressure upon the very act of ‘tending to…,’ we also want to consider the moments when that act is itself not cast in a positive light. Questions that guide this issue are, but not limited to: What are the limits of care? What are the possibilities of care? What does it mean to tend to/care about? How can care act as a methodology? How do people/institutions/practices choose what to care for/what not to care for? When does care/tending to become weaponized? Whose histories are protected/preserved/erased? What futures are being tended to? What are we continuing to nurture?

We invite scholarship on any historical period and geographical focus that engages with the volume’s theme. While this journal is situated within the fields of art history, architectural history, museum studies, and visual studies, we welcome submissions from any advanced graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and early career contingent scholars in any field, whose work relates to the journal’s particular theme.

The journal is currently open to submissions for all categories (see descriptions below). For focus and experimental articles, please submit a manuscript and 150-word bio to the journal’s page on eScholarship using the submit function, located at: https://escholarship.org/uc/reactreview. Please remove any identifying information from manuscripts, as submissions will be evaluated through a double-blind review process.

Questions can be directed to the journal co-managing editors, Graham Feyl, Karla Mendez, and Kristin Yinger at reactreviewjournalgmail.com.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

Affect + Affect Theory, Emotion

Curatorial practices and collections

Conservation

Stewardship

Archives + archival work

Spaces of care (domestic, healthcare spaces, architecture, placemaking, etc.)

Relationships and relationality (friendships, sisterhood, communities, etc.)

Welcoming + hospitality

Networks and root systems

Political and social actions

Caregiving (medical, political, emotional, etc)

Public + private role of care

Futurity + the future of care

Article categories available for open submission:

Focus articles: essays that emphasize the theme of the call for papers.

Experimental articles: experimental articles are open-ended pieces that discuss new research findings, speculate on pressing research questions, or address methodological issues encountered in fieldwork or archival work. They differ from the more formal focus articles in that experimental pieces are more exploratory and flexible in nature. Experimental articles provide space for researchers to share works-in-progress, make connections between research and current events, or reflect on methodologies or the experience of conducting research or fieldwork. This section is also open to interviews or new translations of art and architecture-related texts accompanied by a brief translator note.

Focus and experimental article guidelines:

1500-4000 words (excluding footnotes + bibliography)

Focus and experimental: may be accompanied by brief responses from members of the editorial staff in order to create a conversation and make connections across research specialties.

Book/exhibition reviews (750-1,000 words): Reviews on recent exhibitions, public art projects, or publications should touch on the theme of the current issue. To pitch a review, please send a ~150-word pitch and CV to co-managing editors, Graham Feyl, Karla Mendez, and Kristin Yinger, at reactreviewjournalgmail.com with the subject line REVIEW by Friday, October 9, 2026.

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