Mind and Matter – Nordik 2009 Conference for Art Historians
17 September 2009 - 19 September 2009
Conference location: Jyväskylä, Finland.
Call for papers - last modified 15.12.2008.
Mind and Matter concentrates on systems of beliefs and thinking in Art and Art History and their relation to empirical material. We wish to focus on the practices and problems arising from the interaction of empirical material and abstract or immaterial principles such as thoughts, beliefs, ideas, religions, and political ideologies. Discussions of methodological strategies invite critical reflection on the interdisciplinary character of art history. We encourage contributions, examining topics ranging from various theoretical issues and practices to explicit visual analysis, and welcome all fields of art history, including visual studies, architecture, design, new media and museology.
Suggested topics for presentations are:
POLITICS OF ART HISTORY: politics and ethics of method and practice; discourses of canonizing, ethnicity, gender, national identity, multiculturalism; politics of displays; art and cultural policy.
SPIRITUAL LANDSCAPES: landscape as motive and form; mental structure; cultural construction.
PICTURING MEMORY: memory and visual culture; collecting; oblivion; heritage.
CREATIVE PROCESSES: emotion, experience and interpretation in art and art history; performativity; psychology and the philosophy of art.
VISUALISING FAITH AND BELIEFS: popular religious imagery; esoteric dogma and visual form; iconoclasms; clashes of religious cultures; spirituality; piety.
DESIGN MATTERS: concept design; designing sustainability; usability; immateriality and materiality.
The languages of the conference are English, Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish.
The presentations will be delivered in 30 minute slots (20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for discussion). The accepted paper presentations will be arranged to six thematic workshops by the organizers and all accepted abstracts will be published on the conference websites and printed as conference material as well. Please send your proposal max. 400 words (only electronically) by January 31st 2009. Further information and abstract submitting, click here.
