Call for Papers: Art, Institutions, and Internationalism: 1933–1966
November 16, 2016
Call for Papers: Art, Institutions, and Internationalism: 1933–1966
PhD Program in Art History, The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Conference Date: Tuesday, March 7–Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Abstract Deadline: Friday, January 13, 2017
The PhD Program in Art History, in collaboration with The Center for Humanities at The Graduate Center, CUNY, is seeking new and in-progress research papers that explore links between art production and art institutions internationally between the 1930s and the 1960s. This program includes a one-day public conference and a one-day closed-door workshop session focusing on new methodologies for research in this emerging field.
Inspired by recent initiatives that have expanded the field of artistic modernism geographically, this conference examines the shifting stakes and definitions of internationalism before and after World War II. Much scholarship of this period has focused on questions of universalism, or attempts to transcend the cultural, linguistic, and political boundaries of the nation-state. Instead, this conference takes internationalism as its starting point, inviting scholars to explore instances of material exchange of art and ideas among nations during this period.
While we particularly encourage papers exploring issues of cultural nation building during the transition from colonial to post-colonial statehood in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, we also invite research on art and internationalism that emerges from Europe and the Americas.
Papers could examine, for example:
– The movement of art and artists through international biennials, museums, festivals and exhibitions.
– The role of regional and international intergovernmental organizations such as UNESCO, the OECD, the Arab League, and political associations such as the Non-Aligned and Pan-African movements.
– Projects or events that took place on less prominent or recognized institutional platforms during the period, including for example, artist collectives, artist residencies, private collections, galleries, art fairs, embassies, and medium-focused print or drawing biennials.
– The circulation of art and art criticism internationally within magazines and journals.
– The role of the nationalism and nation building in an increasingly international art world.
– Trajectories of individual artists’ careers in national and international art contexts.
– The influence of exhibitions, biennials, etc., on regional and national artistic styles.
Send 300-word abstracts and a current CV by 5PM EST by Friday, January 13, 2017 to [email protected] and [email protected].
Co-sponsored by the Ph.D. Program in Art History and the Rewald Endowment of the Ph.D. Program in Art History