The conference focuses on the notion of periphery/peripheries in relation to the varied methods, materials, concepts, questions and ideas accurate in the fields of artistic research and visual studies. We aim to look at and speculate about the multitude of peripheral sites and situations as a multi-layered and complex phenomenon – as conceptual, spatial and site-responsive domains, aesthetically and spatially experienced and shaped by associations, representations and practices through different mediums in arts and epistemologies. The conference will include presentations, artistic interventions, discussions and installations. Artistic researchers and scholars on visual studies across disciplines, aesthetics and activities are all invited.

The conference is part of a research consortium Floating Peripheries – mediating the sense of place between University of Lapland, Faculty of Art and Design and Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture. The project is funded by the Academy of Finland during 2017–2021.

CALL FOR PAPERS (PDF)

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT AN ABSTRACT

Preliminary time schedule: 

Monday 14 January 2019: Programme to be confirmed

Tuesday 15 January 2019:
09:30 - 16:15 Day programme
19:00 - 21:00 Dinner

Wednesday 16 January 2019
09:30 – 16:15 Day programme

Keynotes

Leena-Maija Rossi
Dr. Leena-Maija Rossi is a University Lecturer in Gender Studies at the University of Lapland as well as an Adjunct Professor in Art History and Gender Studies (University of Helsinki) and Visual Culture (University of Turku). Rossi has published widely on visual culture, feminist and queer theory and intersectionality. Her most recent books include Muuttuva sukupuoli: Seksuaalisuuden, luokan ja värin politiikkaa (Volatile Gender: Politics of Sexuality, Class and Color, 2015) and Sukupuoli ja väkivalta: Lukemisen etiikkaa ja politiikkaa. (Gender and Violence. Ethics and Politics of Reading, 2017, co-edited with Sanna Karkulehto). She was the Principal Investigator in the research project Polar Stars (2005–2009), funded by the Academy of Finland. In 2012-2016 she was a Senior Researcher in the project Abusive Sexuality and Sexual Violence in Contemporary Culture, funded by the Kone Foundation. She has also been a Visiting Scholar in the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality at New York University (2012–2013) and part-time lecturer at the New School (New York) in the spring 2016. In addition to her academic career, Rossi has curated a number of exhibitions in Finland and internationally. She was also the Executive Director of the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York in 2011-16.
Presentation title: Floating Words, Intersecting Identities

James Kreider and Kristen O'Leary
Kreider + O'Leary are a poet and an architect who collaborate to make work in relation to sites of architectural and cultural interest such as prisons, military sites, film locations, landscape gardens, protest sites and desert environments. Combining visual, spatial and poetic practices, they develop performance, installation and video work and instigate architectural interventions directly on-site. Their work has been exhibited widely, including at the Tate, the Royal Academy and The Whitechapel in London as well as in gallery venues and sites across the UK, USA, Europe, Australia, South America and Japan. They have co-authored two books. Falling was published by Copy Press in 2015 and Field Poetics was published by Ma Bibliothèque in 2018. Current research focuses on two sites from the upcoming ‘Ungovernable Spaces' series. The first is the route of Gandi's infamous Salt March in Gujarat, India. The second is a cluster of contested spaces around the so-called ‘peacewalls' of Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Dr. Kristen Kreider is Professor of Fine Art and Director of the PhD Programme at Goldsmiths College, London. James O'Leary is Associate Professor of Architecture & Situated Practice and Director of the MA Situated Practice programme at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, London. 

Key dates and deadlines:

Abstracts submission deadline: 22 October 2018 
Notification of acceptance: 3 December 2018
Release of hotel room quotas: 14 December 2018
Registration closes: 2 January 2019
Conference: 14 – 16 January 2019

The conference is free of charge including materials, admission to all sessions and coffee/tea during breaks. Lunches and conference dinner is at your own cost (payment onsite). All participants and presenters must register for the conference in advance using the online registration form.

Useful materials:

- Registration and accommodation (PDF) – read before registration and hotel booking!
- General information (PDF)
- Rovaniemi Map (PDF)

REGISTER HERE BEFORE 2 JANUARY

We hope that many are interested in the conference topics and will contribute with presentations. Feel free to distribute this information to those who are interested.

For more information about the conference please contact:

Jonna Tolonen
D.A. (Art and Design), M.Ed.
Postdoctoral researcher, University of Lapland
Jonna.Tolonen(at)ulapland.fi
+358 40 484 4084 

For more information about the registration and accommodation please contact:

Rovaniemi-Lapland Congresses
congress(at)ulapland.fi 
+358 40 484 4462​