Paying homage to the work of Foteini Vlachou (1975-2017), the Art History Institute and the Institute of Contemporary History of the Universidade NOVA de Lisboa now launch the call for papers for the Art in the Periphery International Conference.

The conference aims to discuss the concept of periphery while focusing on the geographic and thematic areas that have been neglected by traditional and/or canonical art history. It seeks to push the discussion towards the understanding of the periphery as plural, historical and changeable, focusing on the non-linearity of cultural processes and historical time, and the non-universality of the artistic canons.

As Vlachou wrote in 2015: “No longer understood to mean ‘secondary, derivative, dependent, passive’, the ‘periphery’ will be understood as a structure with distinct characteristics and priorities that might in turn undermine values espoused in artistic centres, such as authorship and originality. More importantly, the periphery will not be framed in exclusively geographical terms (as a region distinct from the centre), but rather as situated at the margins of dominant art history. As such, it may refer to areas, periods or even materials that have been delegated a secondary position in the hierarchy of fine arts (the decorative arts can serve as a prime example of this process)”.

We welcome contributions that explore either particular instances or longer-term historical developments in the visual arts, as well as contributions that conceptualize the centreperiphery debate in a broader scope, in relation to one or more of the following questions/topics:

How selectively were the cultural models produced in the ‘centres’ adopted/adapted/transformed in the ‘peripheries’?
What examples are there of specific instances and longer-term impacts on a ‘center’ of artists, images and artistic ideas originating in a ‘periphery’?
What examples are there of transferences between peripheries and what kind of impact do they have?
What is a ‘periphery’ within a ‘centre’? What is a ‘centre’ within a ‘periphery’?
How do these relationships between centres and peripheries change over long historical periods, for example, across decades or even centuries?
How do centre-periphery dynamics change after the formal end of colonization and the achievement of independence? How do they participate in processes of decolonization? Were the arts of any modern society ever fully free of the colonial experience, either as a centre or a periphery?
How operative is the dichotomy centre/periphery in the construction of historiographical narratives?
What alternative narratives can convey how art was/is produced, displayed and consumed in the peripheries?
What should count as art outside the canon?
Many contemporary artists live in exile from their home cultures yet maintain a strong relationship to them through diasporic exchanges. Are these relationships changing centre-periphery theorizations of artistic practice?



We welcome proposals for 20-minute presentations in English, which should include:

-Title of the proposal
-Applicant’s identification (name, institutional affiliation, country and email)
-Abstract (up to 300 words)
-Short curriculum vitae (up to 200 words)

Proposals must be sent in Word (.doc format) by email to artintheperipheryconference@gmail.com


Important dates:

Deadline for abstract submission – 28 October 2018
Notification of acceptance of abstract – 9 December 2018
Deadline for registration – 27 January 2019
Conference – 14-16 March 2019


Organisation:

Art History Institute, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa
Institute of Contemporary History, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa


Scientific Committee:

Alexandra Curvelo (Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, IHA)
Barbara Pezzini (Editor, Visual Resources: an International Journal on Images and their Uses)
Béatrice Joyeux-Prunel (Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris)
Joana Cunha Leal (Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, IHA)
Mariana Pinto dos Santos (Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, IHA)
Raquel Henriques da Silva (Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, IHA)
Terry Smith (University of Pittsburgh and the European Graduate School)
Luís Trindade (Birkbeck College and Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, IHC)