CFP: Hemisphere: Visual Cultures of the Americas vol. 10

Ryuichi Nakayama Announcement
Location
New Mexico, United States
Subject Fields
Art, Art History & Visual Studies, Latin American and Caribbean History / Studies, Indigenous Studies, American History / Studies

Call for Papers: Hemisphere: Visual Cultures of the Americas, Volume 10 (Fall 2017)

Archival Thinking in the Americas: Repertory, Materials, and Methods

 

In the last couple of decades, thinkers and cultural creatives, such as writers and artists have scrutinized the archive, what is understood as, “a repository or ordered system of documents and records, both verbal and visual, that is the foundation from which history is written” (Merewether, 2006). Critically examining issues surrounding the archive has become an indispensable part of any inquiry that entertains historiographic questions. Critiques of the authority, veracity, evidentiary function, and interpretive power of the archive suggest that the writing of history is no more than a “reading” repository of assumed facts from a hegemonic perspective. The critical re-examination that the archive has experienced has inevitably led to a critique of its imperial origin, which is inextricable from Western European (and later, U.S.) colonial efforts to re-order and dominate the world materially and intellectually from the early modern era to the present day. Equally significant, we must also consider the forms of “amnesia” or elision in historical and cultural imaginaries caused by differences of class, gender, and race, as well as various forms of “counter-archive” that function as a way to challenge the archival authority.

Recent scholarship has paid attention to the global extension of archival practices by challenging historiography’s Eurocentrism. Yet, many investigations are still inclined to rely on a European model of archive originating in the nineteenth century, which privileges text, photography, and film as media normally operating within an Anglocentric epistemological framework. This method often underestimates the imprint of other culturally imperialist archival forms and practices, such as those found in the early modern Hispanic and Ibero-American world. More significantly, resting on a Eurocentric scope of archive may disregard or misinterpret alternate modes of archival thinking and practice, such as those found in the cultural production of populations or communities that fall outside a strictly European, elite, or white framework. As is widely known, indigenous groups across the Americas such as the Mesoamerican Mexica or the Andean Inka developed unique archival methods, e.g. screenfold codices containing writing, calendrical information, and other forms of embodied knowledge or the series of encoded colored strings and knots known as quipu utilized to document a wide range of information. How does looking at various modes of archival thinking allow us to remap visual and material forms in the production of knowledge in the Americas while pushing the boundaries of our conception of the archive? Volume 10 of Hemisphere: Visual Cultures of the Americas will explore the potential of archival thinking as an analytical lens with which we may examine cultural production in the Americas in its fullest historical, cultural, institutional, and material spectrum. Topics may include but are not limited to: indigenous approaches and practices; colonial negotiations, adaptations, or innovations; the role and outcomes of nationalist agendas in the production of knowledge entwined with collecting practices; and modern and/or contemporary responses to archival forms and practices including the work of artists today.

Guidelines for Submission:

· Completed works by MA and PhD students, including essays (20-30 pages in length) and reviews or interviews (5-10pages in length) will be considered for publication in the peer-reviewed Volume 10 of Hemisphere: Visual Cultures of the Americas.

· English or Spanish submissions are acceptable.

· Each submission must be emailed by April 3, 2017 to hmsphr@unm.edu, accompanied with a cover letter thatprominently notes the title of the essay, the field of study to which it pertains, as well as a CV that includes the author’sstatus (e.g. MA, PhD Student, or PhD Candidate), department, and institution name and location. Authors will be notified in May about the status of their submission.

· For formatting instructions, see: http://art.unm.edu/submission-information/

· Journal contributors receive 5 complimentary copies of the journal. Additionally, authors of essays published in Hemisphere will be invited to participate in a symposium in fall 2017 at the University of New Mexico, where theywill have the opportunity to present their essays.

· Past volumes of Hemisphere are archived in the University of New Mexico’s Lobo Vault at:http://repository.unm.edu/handle/1928/7002

Hemisphere: Visual Cultures of the Americas is an annual publication produced by graduate students affiliated with the Department of Art at the University of New Mexico. Please direct any questions or inquiries to hmsphr@unm.edu.

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Contact Information

Hemisphere: Visual Cultures of the Americas is an annual publication produced by graduate students affiliated with the Department of Art & Art History at the University of New Mexico. Please direct any questions or inquiries to Hemisphere's e-mail account: hmsphr@unm.edu. Or Ryuichi Nakayama, Editor of the Volume 10 of Hemisphere: rnakayama@unm.edu

Contact Email
hmsphr@unm.edu