Call for papers on a panel on the theme of "Underground" for the Association of Art History 2025 Annual Conference taking place in April 2025. (Deadline: November 1)
Date:
Location: York , United Kingdom University of YorkContact: Dr. Freyda Spira
Phone: 917.657.5873
Email: freyda.spira@yale.edu
Website: https://forarthistory.org.uk/conference/2025-annual-conference/
What do we see if we look down instead of up? How does artistic engagement with the spaces under our feet challenge traditional discourses in the history of art? What do literal and metaphorical underground networks have to say about "social and ideological forms of power" that are "inseparable" from the discourse of verticalism (Haacke, 2021, 1)? Building on the notions of the vertical turn and the subterranean imaginary, as well as projects like "Underground Imaginaries" (https://spacesinbetween.jimdosite.com), this panel seeks to focus on artistic agency underground. From the handprints made in the Maros-Pangkep karst in Indonesia almost 50,000 years ago to the catacombs deep under Rome to Vito Acconci’s performance of Seedbed (1972) at the Sonnabend Gallery, concealed, buried or hidden spaces have long encouraged artistic experimentation and exploration.
We are interested in papers that explore not only the artworks and cultural objects that populate the underground, but the people who animate those spaces through their artistry and their lived experiences. How have artists made use of the underground to comment on power—whether religious, political or social? How do their underground works comment on our "natural, cultural, and built environments" (Haacke, 2021, 3)—or our displacement from them? We are especially keen for submissions that explore the underground in the Global South.
To offer a paper:
Please email your paper proposals direct to the session conveners:
Natasha Ruiz-Gómez, University of Essex, natashar@essex.ac.uk
Freyda Spira, Yale University Art Gallery, freyda.spira@yale.edu
You need to provide a title and abstract (250 words maximum) for a 20-minute paper (unless otherwise specified), your name and institutional affiliation (if any).
Please make sure the title is concise and reflects the contents of the paper because the title is what appears online, in social media and in the digital programme.
You should receive an acknowledgement of receipt of your submission within two weeks.
Deadline for submissions: 1 November 2024
