TO celebrate a hundred years of Gerard Sekoto’s life, the Wits Art Museum (WAM) is staging a retrospective of his artwork in an exhibition titled Song for Sekoto 1930-2013.
In collaboration with the Gerard Sekoto Foundation, WAM brings an intimate and exclusive display of Sekoto’s celebrated pieces. Some which have been brought overseas, loaned from the Johannesburg Art Gallery and private collectors.
2nd International Non-Western Fashion Conference
Constructing National Identity Through Fashion
London College of Fashion, UK
21-22 November 2013
CALL FOR PAPERS
In today’s rapidly globalizing world, dichotomies like ‘traditional’ versus
‘fashionable,’ ‘tradition’ versus ‘modernity’ and ‘non-West’ versus ‘West’
can no longer be justified and fortunately a new generation of fashion
scholars is acknowledging the existence of different (non Euro-American)
fashion systems. They realize there is a growing urgency for fashion
theory to rectify its ethno- and Eurocentric approach and no longer assume
that non-Western dress is (automatically) outside the realm of fashion
dynamics. Fashion designers from Asia, The Middle East, Latin America and
Africa are increasingly influencing global fashion dynamics, but
surprisingly still little is known on the effects these developments will
have on fashion as we know it today.
Therefore the aims of this annual conference, which is part of a larger
international interdisciplinary cross-regional research project set up in
2012, is to establish a broad network of scholars focusing on non-Western
fashion systems (without explicitly excluding research on Western fashion
systems), to stimulate international cross-regional comparative research
and to mobilise scholars across disciplines to engage in primary and
archival fieldwork on (emerging) non-Western fashion centres. The project
aims to meet a new intellectual and public interest in more local models
of fashion production and consumption.
This second edition of the Non-Western Fashion Conference will focus on the
construction of national identity in fashion and the roles of so-called
‘tradition’ and ‘modernity’ in this process. Fashion designers are
increasingly branding their national heritage/tradition as a successful
marketing tool, while simultaneously reinventing/modernizing it. On the
one hand, in a globalizing world, it allows them to differentiate
themselves on a highly competitive international fashion market, while on
the other hand, on a national level, it seems to make them successful as a
result of a general revaluation of national culture as a counter reaction
to increasing foreign cultural influences. However, when non-Western
designers use their cultural heritage as a source of inspiration, it is
considered ‘traditional
identity’ whereas when Western fashion designers brand their cultural
heritage, it is considered ‘fashion identity.’
This conference not only wishes to be interdisciplinary but also
cross-regional, assembling researchers who are engaged in creative and
critical rethinking of (non-Western) fashion systems in a wide scope of
geographical areas in ways that may include, but certainly are not limited
to the ideas above. Please note that all papers will be presented in
English, and no translation will be available.
Keynote speakers for this edition are:
* Jennifer Craik (RMIT University, Melbourne)
* Yuniya Kawamura (Fashion Institute of Technology, New York)
* Leslie Rabine (University of California)
* Emma Tarlo (Goldsmiths, University of London)
* Sarah Cheang (Royal College of Art, London)
* Reina Lewis (London College of Fashion)
300 word abstracts are due by the 30th of June 2013.
Emails containing the abstracts should be submitted to m.jansen@fashion.arts.ac.uk and entitled: NON-WESTERN FASHION ABSTRACT SUBMISSION.
Please include the author’s name, affiliation, email address and the title of the abstract. Please send PDF, Word or RTF formats, using plain text (Times Roman 12) and abstain from using footnotes and any special formatting, characters or emphasis.
Receipt of the email will be acknowledged within one week. If you do not receive a reply, please assume that it was not received, and send it again. A selection of the papers will be invited to feature in a hardcopy edited volume following the conference.
African art in your living room!
African Masters is a new arts series that starts on the Africa Channel at 9pm tonight. The 6-part programme visits studios in Senegal, galleries in New York, artists residences in Nigeria and auction houses in London to reveal how the African art scene is emerging as a dynamic force internationally. The globe-trotting show shot on location in Nigeria, Senegal Benin, Kenya, South Africa, France, the USA and the UK features interviews with a wide range of artists, Ousmane Sow, William Kentridge, Romuald Hazoumé, Yinka Shonibare and Yusuf Grillo, exclusive studio visits with El Anatsui, Ablade Glover, Soly Cissé, Sokari Douglas-Camp, Bruce Onabrakpeya and Mary Evans as well as discussions with art world key players including André Magnin (French Curator and Art Dealer) and Bisi Silva (Curator at the Center for Contemporary Art in Lagos).
Dedicated to providing bold, high-quality programming giving viewers unique…
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Okwui Enwezor described the ephemera of Africa that arrived in European docks as “strange cargo”: as it was unloaded from ship to warehouse by longshoremen, as it was bid on, sold, and displayed in wealthy homes, lost and rediscovered, each object shaped European visions of Africa. ‘Africa’ as we imagine it now, was shaped by that strange cargo. Later in his essay in the January 1996 issue of frieze, Enwezor asked, “Why do we never consider the achievements of those artists who at great professional cost and individual isolation have not only transcended but have equally transfigured the borders constituting the notion of Africanity?” South African artist Jane Alexander’s work, now positioned throughout the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights neighbourhood, is part of the tradition of Africa’s strange cargo, but it is freight that – possibly at the cost of easy audience engagement, and…
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ACRAH’s photostream on Flickr.
Check out this photograph of a uhaul van featuring the underground railroad as part of a new advertising campaign. Discuss.
The University of Texas Africa Conference
African Diasporas: Old and New
April 3-6, 2014
We are now inviting scholars to submit conference papers and full panel
proposals for the 2014 conference on African Diasporas: Old and New. The
goal of this conference is to create an interdisciplinary dialogue
concerning Africa and Africans throughout the world from both historical
and contemporary approaches. This conference seeks to bring together a vast
array of scholars on a variety of academic levels to discuss the complex
experiences of African descended peoples across the globe.
What is the African Diaspora? How are old and new diasporas discussed in a
variety of disciplines? How can we conceptualize the African Diaspora? What
is the role of the African Diaspora in modern politics? How do various
groups within old and new African diasporas conceptualize themselves in
relation to others? How do diasporic voices shape conceptualizations of
individual and collective identities? What will the African diaspora look
like in the future?
Some potential topics may include:****
As with all our previous conferences, participants will be drawn from
different parts of the world. Submitted papers will be assigned to
particular panels according to similarities in theme, topic, discipline, or
geographical location. Papers can also be submitted together as a panel.
Additionally, selected papers will be published in book form.
This conference also has a commitment to professional development which
will be fostered through workshops in writing, publishing, and conference
presentation. The conference will also provide ample time for professionals
from various disciplines and geographical locations to interact, exchange
ideas, and receive feedback. Graduate students are especially encouraged to
attend and present papers and will be partnered with a senior scholar to
encourage their own growth as scholars.
The deadline for submitting paper proposals is November 31, 2013. Proposals
should include a 250-word abstract and title, as well as the author’s name,
address, telephone number, email address, and institutional affiliation.
Please submit all abstracts to Cacee Hoyer/Danielle Sanchez:
africaconference2014@gmail.com
A mandatory non-refundable registration fee of $150 for scholars and $100
for graduate students must be paid immediately upon the acceptance of the
abstract. This conference fee includes admission to the panels, workshops,
and special events, as well as transportation to and from the conference
from the hotel, breakfast for three days, dinner on Friday night, lunch on
Saturday, and a banquet on Saturday evening.
The University of Texas at Austin does not provide participants with any
form of funding support, travel expenses, or boarding expenses. If the
conference obtains outside funding this will be used to help subsidize
graduate students’ accommodations on a competitive basis but it is not
guaranteed.
Convened by Dr. Toyin Falola****
Coordinated by Cacee Hoyer and Danielle Sanchez
Making Art In/About/For Cities in Crisis
45th Annual Convention, Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)
April 3-6, 2014
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Host: Susquehanna University
This session seeks to promote cross-disciplinary discussion of the roles
verbal and visual art might play in the 21st-century American city. On the
heels of the Great Recession, cities are undergoing massive
transformations, with some gaining new prominence by attracting
what Richard Florida calls “creative class” workers while others,
particularly in the industrial Midwest and overbuilt South and Southwest,
seem to be in irreversible decline. In collaboration with government and
business leaders, architects and urban designers are arranging the physical
environments of cities on the rise to further accelerate and intensify
economic growth. At the same time, writers and artists are flocking to
cities at the other end of the spectrum—Detroit, most prominently—creating
collectives and workshops reminiscent of the 1960s poetry and art scenes in
cities like Los Angeles and New York. Are we, as Sarah Schulman argues in
The Gentrification of the Mind, on the leading edge of another wave of
appropriation and displacement, with writers and artists merely leading the
way? Can anything save cities from capitalism’s tendency toward creative
destruction? Do they need to be saved? Is there a critique from art or
aesthetic theory that might be put in productive dialogue with economic and
cultural approaches to urban problems? When will the new generation of
urban artists break through and in which media?
Send 250-word abstracts with contact and affiliation information to Nate Mickelson,
mickelsonjn@yahoo.com by September 30, 2013.
About the Conference:
The 2014 NeMLA convention continues the Association’s tradition of sharing
innovative scholarship in an engaging and generative location. This capitol
city set on the Susquehanna River is known for its vibrant restaurant
scene, historical sites, the National Civil War museum, and nearby Amish
Country, antique shops and Hershey Park. NeMLA has arranged low hotel
rates of $104-$124.
The 2014 event will include guest speakers, literary readings, professional
events, and workshops. A reading by George Saunders will open the
Convention. His 2013 collection of short fiction, The Tenth of
December, has been acclaimed by the New York Times as: “the best
book you’ll read this year.” NeMLA’s Keynote Speaker will be David Staller,
Producer and Director of Project Shaw. Mr. Staller presents monthly
script-in-hand performances of Bernard Shaw’s plays at the Players Club in
New York City.
Interested participants may submit abstracts to more than one NeMLA
session; however, panelists can only present one paper (panel or seminar).
Convention participants may present a paper at a panel and also present at
a creative session or participate in a roundtable.
http://www.nemla.org/convention/2014/cfp.html
ACRAH 