CALL FOR PAPERS
for the special issue of Open Theology
Religious Art and Power – Contestations and Affirmations

Open Theology (https://www.degruyterbrill.com/journal/key/opth/html) invites submissions for the special issue “Religious Art and Power – Contestations and Affirmations,” edited by László Koppány Csáji and Márk Nemes (Research Institute of Art Theory and Methodology, Hungarian Academy of Arts, Budapest, Hungary).

DESCRIPTION

Interlacing culture and society, religious art has traditionally been a hub of social reflections. A field of creativity, intuitive expression, professionalism, communication, and even social agency, religious art appears in many forms of expression and activity. It can be studied “through the prism of the genre,” as Leonard Primiano suggests, using the frameworks of architecture, dress, photographs, artifacts, narratives, bodily communication, and even dance, music, or song. Artistic expressions often incorporate reflections on power, whether affirmative and legitimizing or critical and resistant, even on the level of vernacular religiosity. Religion and power also have a complex relationship and interaction, as professional religious art—whether at the level of the individual, the religious community, or society at large—has the capability to address contemporary issues of “mundane” power. Within these frameworks, urgent issues such as climate change, crises, war, migration, and social discrimination can also be addressed. However, art is not merely a tool for expressing a critical position and commentary on social, cultural, and political power, but can function as an agent that shapes and affirms it.
This special issue of “Open Theology” seeks novel approaches to these intertwined subjects, with a thematic focus on how power, authority, and agency play out at the vernacular and institutional levels, and on how power is bestowed, legitimized, and subverted through social and spiritual frameworks.
We encourage submissions on inductive, fieldwork-centered research; theoretical overviews of the relationship between art and power applied to case studies; and critical methodological reflections on prior research or approaches on the subject group. Submissions should aim to articulate proposals with real traction—normative and operational—attentive to feasibility, measurable change, and transferability.

Submissions should primarily (but not exclusively) address the following questions:
• How is religious art used as a manifestation or legitimization of power?
• How is religious art used to criticize or subvert authority, legitimacy, and power?
• What kind of interactions can we observe between power and religious art?
• What kind of discursive practices appear in religious art?
• What is the role of emotions and the senses in legitimizing or subverting forms of power and authority?
• How do new media and new technologies shape religious artistic practices by empowering marginalized voices, deconstructing traditional hierarchies, or creating alternative narratives?
• How do performative approaches in religious practices play a crucial role in expressing, shaping, or contesting religious authority or power?

HOW TO SUBMIT

Submissions will be collected until 15 September, 2026, via the online submission system
at http://www.editorialmanager.com/openth/

Please choose section/category: special issue “Religious Art and Power”.
Before submission, authors should carefully read the Instruction for Authors, available at: https://www.degruyter.com/publication/journal_key/OPTH/downloadAsset/OPTH_Instruction%20for%20Authors.pdf

All contributions will undergo peer review before acceptance for publication.

Further questions about content for this thematic issue can be addressed to Dr. László Koppány Csáji (csaji.koppany@mma-mmki.hu) and Dr. Márk Nemes (nemes.mark@mma-mmki.hu)

Because “Open Theology” is published under an open access model, as a rule, publication costs should be covered by Article Publishing Charges (APC), paid by authors, their affiliated institutions, funders, or sponsors. Authors without access to publishing funds are encouraged to discuss potential discounts or waivers with OA Portfolio Manager Magdalena Skoneczna (magdalena.skoneczna@degruyterbrill.com) before submitting their manuscripts.

In case of technical problems with submission, please write to Assistant.Managing.Editor@degruyterbrill.com.

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