Call for Papers | Gender in Southeast Asian Art Histories | Sydney October 2017

Pinaree Sanpitak, Cold Cuts, 2013

Gender in Southeast Asian Art Histories An international symposium hosted by the Power Institute, University of Sydney, Australia, 11–13 October 2017

Proposals due 28 February 2021

Studies focused on gender in Southeast Asian societies have emerged, in recent decades, in approximate concurrence with the development of regionally focused Southeast Asian art histories. The founding premise of this international symposium is that there has hitherto been insufficient discursive intersection between these two fields.

Topics discussed may include:

1. Accounts of individual artists and collectives whose work engages with gender;
2. Investigations of gender in the exhibitionary, critical, and historiographical receptions of works of art, from any period
3. Considerations of the relationships between artists and/or works of art and larger Southeast Asian cultural constructs of gender, as enacted in political, economic, religious and other domains.

Proposals will be particularly welcomed for papers that address what new perspectives and methodological approaches are brought to the fore through studies that are attentive to gender, and/or that re-assess art historical narratives through the lens of gender. Histories of art from antiquity to the present will be considered, in the hope that intellectual exchange between scholars working on the “pre-modern,” “modern,” and “contemporary” will be mutually generative.

As the first symposium of its kind, Gender in Southeast Asian Art Histories aims to establish the parameters of current research, and to develop inter-disciplinary and transnational frameworks for future studies in the field. To this end, proposals are invited from researchers working in and between a range of disciplines, including but not limited to: archaeology, area studies, comparative literature, gender studies, heritage studies, history, film studies and media studies, in addition to art history.

In addition to more established scholars, early career researchers (including postgraduate researchers) are particularly welcomed. The conference organizers are pleased to offer selected participants financial assistance toward the cost of travel and accommodation, with preference given to those based in Southeast Asia. In developing scholarly networks, the event organizers will also facilitate international collaborations and mentorships, in which early career researchers accepted for participation will be given feedback on their presentations, and encouraged to submit their papers to the scholarly, peer-reviewed journal of the Asian Studies Association of Australia, the Asian Studies Review (indexed in Scopus).

The symposium will be launched by a keynote address from Professor Ashley Thompson, the Hiram W. Woodward Chair in Southeast Asian Art at SOAS, University of London. Symposium participants and up to twelve additional attendees, on a competitive basis, will also be invited to participate in a half-day masterclass led by Professor Thompson, and a professional development workshop.

Abstracts in English of approximately 500 words, as well as biographical statements of approximately 100 words, should be sent to yvonne.low@sydney.edu.au before 28 February 2017.

Applicants seeking support for travel and accommodation expenses should also include a short statement of financial need.

Website: http://www.powerpublications.com.au/cfp-gender-southeast-asian-art/

Gender in Southeast Asian Art Histories is convened by Yvonne Low, Roger Nelson, Clare Veal, and Stephen Whiteman. The event is generously supported by the Asian Studies Association of Australia, the Power Institute, the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, and the School of Literature Art and Media at the University of Sydney.

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