CFP: International Interdisciplinary Conference on Art

Students of the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade would like to invite students of all levels to the second annual International Interdisciplinary Conference on Art which will be held from the 8th to the 10th of May 2019 at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade.

The main goal of this Conference is to create a network of students and young scholars with different disciplinary backgrounds that are dealing with various aspects of art research. This includes connections on a social level – by giving the participants a chance to communicate, exchange ideas, contacts and much more, and on a theoretical level – by providing them with insight into different disciplines’ stances, terminology, analysis tools, process of choosing a certain research problem etc. It is our belief that this kind of cooperation would provide the foundations for further international and interdisciplinary partnership and it would help create a common framework which would enhance the quality of research of art.

This year’s theme of the Conference is Interpretation in Arts and Humanities. We see this theme as a continuation of last year’s conference (Autonomy in Art and Humanities) in the following sense. We believe that across the art-research disciplines exists what seems to be “neutral” theoretical concepts such as “autonomy”, “interpretation”, “evaluation”, “definition” etc. that, when subjected to closer examination, appears to be not so neutral, but strongly context- or framework-dependent instead. It is also our belief that this leads to the lack of interdisciplinary communication, conceptual and methodological confusion,and general misunderstanding. All of this is the main reason we have decided to closely examine those concepts one by one on our annual conferences by encouraging students and young scholars to write and discuss about this issue during three days of their stay in Belgrade. Applicants are, of course, not obliged to address this general theoretical problem in their papers. The reason why we organize this conference after all is exactly because we don't think it is a one man job. We expect the solution not to be found in a single paper, but rather to emerge from the interaction on the conference.

What we, on the other hand, do expect from applicants to present is their own research that directly or indirectly reveals one aspect of the meaning of the term “interpretation”. That can include, but is not limited to conceptual analysis, empirical research, historical or methodological research. We propose the following themes, but applicants are free to explore beyond our proposition:

• Philosophical topics (preferably problems from analytic or

hermeneutic philosophical tradition) such as:

a) What kind of meaning do works of art convey?

b) What kind of role does the author’s intention play in the artworks meaning?

c) Is there such a thing as true or are there only plausible interpretations of an artwork?

d) Is interpretation subjective or objective and in what sense?

• Art history/art theory and archeology topics about interpretation such as:

a) Exploration of paradigmatic or newfound cases of interpretational disagreement in Art History or Archeology or art criticism

b) Interesting and specific cases of interpretation in Art History or Archeology or art criticism

c) Paradigmatic or newfound cases of certain methodologies of interpretation

d) Possibility of a methodology of interpretation and consideration of interesting cases in such context

e) Interpretation in the context of museum studies   

•Sociological topics such as:

a) Causal relations between the perceived value of a work of art and the time of its creation and the interpretation of such cases

b) What is the impact of socio-contextual factors on the way art is being (re)interpreted (different cultures and time periods; what is considered insulting, socially acceptable etc.) 

c) Social and ideological conflicts and consensus-development processes in art interpretation

d) Social Integration, Differentiation and Action tvhrough Art (Re)Interpretation

e) Can art help us understand social trends and (past and/or present) meanings?

• Other types of questions about interpretations (psychological, anthropological etc.)

Each participant will be given 20 minutes to present her/his work, accompanied by a visual presentation, with a 15 minute discussion on each panel. Written papers will be submitted after the Conference. The official language of the Conference is English so both the oral and visual presentations, as well as written papers, must be in English. Applications should be submitted to the organizers (e-mail address: [email protected]) before the 1st of March 2019. The application should include 2 files:

1. An Info file with your personal information: name and surname, university, faculty, department, level of study.

2. An abstract of your paper of 500-700 words which should present your main thesis alongside with a shortened version of the arguments supporting your thesis. For more details about the abstracts and selection criteria visit our website. The selected participants will be notified by the 15th of March 2019.

For more information please visit our website: https://iicoabg.wixsite.com/2018

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/IICOA/

Feel free to contact us with any

questions: [email protected].

We are looking forward to your applications!