CFP: Terror on Tour 2019: "Nothing to Declare"

CALL FOR PAPERS

(Deadline 31st July 2019)

Terror on Tour 2019:

Nothing to Declare

Sept. 6, 2019 - Arts Technology Research Lab (ATRL), Trinity College Dublin

TERROR ON TOUR is an international and interdisciplinary network of scholars, artists and activists whose research and work engages with the multiple manifestations of terror in our epoch: from climate change to mass extinction; from the so-called refugee crisis to climate refugees; from cyber crimes to governmental mass surveillance. After four successful conferences at the University of Roehampton, UK (2015), the University of Chichester, UK (2016), the University of Innsbruck, Austria (2017), and at HEAD-Genève/Geneva School of Art and Design (2018) - TERROR ON TOUR 2019 invites engagement with conceptual, artistic, philosophical, political, social, spatial iterations ofNothing to Declare in a one-day colloquium event at ATRL, Trinity College Dublin.

For this one-day colloquium, we encourage scholars, artists and activists to consider Nothing to Declare as an interdisciplinary and trans-cultural apparatus whose strategic functions must be unveiled. Any apparatus ‘is always inscribed into a play of power, but it is also always linked to certain limits of knowledge that arise from it and, to an equal degree, condition it.’ (Michel Foucault) The apparatus can be summarized in three main points: ‘a) the apparatus is a heterogeneous set that includes virtually anything, linguistic and nonlinguistic, under the same heading: discourses, institutions, buildings, laws, police measures, philosophical propositions. The apparatus itself is the network that is established between these elements; b) the apparatus always has a concrete strategic function and is always located in a power relation; c) the apparatus appears at the intersection of power relations and relations of knowledge.’ (Giorgio Agamben)

We invite proposals for original papers, provocations, interventions, performances and visual projects (art installations, video-essays, screenings, etc.) dealing with, but not limited to, the relationship between the apparatus Nothing to Declare and the following questions:

1)    Agencies of Nothing to Declare – Language: what does it mean to “declare nothing”? Is it ever possible to “declare nothing”? What is the “nothing” of such a declaration? Is this a negative declaration manifesting silence? What is the power of silence in the “nothing” that is declared?

2)    Topographies of Nothing to Declare – Space / movement: are there designated spaces where Nothing to Declare should be performed? (i.e. airports, check points or border customs). What are the agencies, movements and/or obstacles that operate within these designated spaces? How do the operations and behaviors, in such designated spaces, translate into a normalized modus operandi?

3)    Temporalities of Nothing to Declare – Time / historical memory: what are the ways in which the struggles of ‘historical memory’ traverse bodies and spaces over time. What is erased, forgotten, or completely repressed in the manufacturing of ‘historical memory’?

Please note that the above questions are intended to be illustrative and by no means exhaustive, for proposals to be presented in a spirit of respectful conviviality, intellectual exchange, and focused concern.

Abstracts:

Proposals for academic papers should be for 20-minute presentations. Papers should be original and neither under submission for publication, nor previously published. We warmly welcome proposals from projects that seek to develop innovative modes of presentation and participation. Please email an abstract (max 250 words) with a short biographical note (max 100 words), plus details of institutional affiliation (if any) to the following dedicated email address: [email protected]

Please write ‘TERROR ON TOUR 2019” as the email subject.

Deadline for Abstracts:

Wednesday, 31st July 2019. Notification of final decisions will be sent by Friday, 2nd August 2019.

Logistics:

There will be no registration fee for this event. All travel expenses and hotel costs will need to be covered by the participants (or their home institutions). Please note that the colloquium working language is English.

Sponsors:

Nothing to Declare is organized by TERROR ON TOUR, with the support of ATRL - Trinity College Dublin.

Organizing and Scientific Committee:

Paul Antick ([email protected]) 

Gabriella Calchi Novati ([email protected]) 

Matthew Causey ([email protected])

Andrew Wilford ([email protected])

References:

Giorgio Agamben (2009), What is an Apparatus?, Stanford: Stanford University Press: 2-3

Michel Foucault (1980), Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972-1977, New York: Pantheon Books: 194-196.

  On behalf of the organising committee.