In addressing the Idea of Revolution in different cultural contexts and theoretical discourses, it is intended to bring together the social and political meanings of the concept itself together with the modes of its representation in visual culture.
Taking as a starting point the idea of art as a “medium of social conflicts” (Horst Bredekamp), hosts of conference pose the question of how the visual imagery mediated the social Imaginary in various modalities of revolutionary praxis and how the abstract concepts of revolution, resistance and revolt have been made visible and intelligible through different forms of visual culture – from photography and cinema to comics and political posters. In addition to that, following issues have to be covered during the discussion: how has the very idea of a “Revolution” changed with the course of time? What role do current or recent events, new theories and practices play in this re-vision? How are the concepts of “Representation” and ” Revolution” related to each other? How has the idea of the Revolution been re-actualized, re-enacted and reformulated in recent political performances, media representations and artistic practices? And last but not least: what role do visual images play in the revolutionary praxis, as “multipliers of meanings, power and emotions” (W.J.T. Mitchell)?
The topics of conference interventions can address a number of themes, including, but not limited to, the following issues:
- The Visual Production of Political Resistance: the Post-Socialist condition
- Image-movement: permanent revolution and its artistic embodiment
- Visual Imagery and Revolutionary Violence
- The Iconography of Revolution: in Search of the Form of Historical Events
- The Sounds of Revolution in Cinematography and Performative Practices
- “Liberty on the Barricades”? Women as Agents of a Revolutionary Movement in Feminist Art
- Reenacting the Revolution: Narratives of Resistance in Re-play
- The revolution in abstracto: the contours of historical events in a non-figurative image
- Dressing the Revolution: Fashion and Social Change
- “First as a Tragedy, then as a Farce”? Revolutions in cartoons and comics
- Artist as a Political Philosopher
- Les figurants: The Revolutionary Masses and Collective Energy in cinema and other forms of arts
- Political Carnivals: the spectacularization of protest in the age of late capitalism
- Staging Revolution(s) Online: the multimedia narratives of the historical multivocality
Сontributions from scholars from around the world and various backgrounds (political sciences, art theory, history, media and cultural studies, gender studies, etc.) are welcomed. The time for presentations is limited to maximum 30 minutes, followed by a short debate. The conference language is English.
Conference Committee:
Natalija Arlauskaitė (Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University, Lithuania)
Lolita Jablonskienė (National Art Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania)
Davide Lombardo (New York University in Florence, Italy)
Almira Ousmanova (European Humanities University, Vilnius, Lithuania)
Krešimir Purgar (University of Zagreb, Croatia)
Audronė Žukauskaitė (Lithuanian Culture Research Institute, Vilnius, Lithuania)
The deadline for submissions is September 30.
The responses to the proposals will be sent by October 10.
The conference will be held at the National Art Gallery (Konstitucijos pr. 22) in Vilnius on November 30-December 1.
To participate, please submit an abstract (300-500 words) and a short bio, accompanied by contact details and affiliation (max. 150 words) via revolutionaryimaginary2017@gmail.com
