Duration
23 May 2022 - 27 May 2022
Facing the third year of pandemic, economic and ecological crises which have left such an indelible stamp on our lives, and have so deeply affected all the other “climates” – social, cultural, political – that we feel responsible for keeping from being polluted, this year’s seminar will (hopefully) return to its original premises as well as its offline and online resources in order to address various modalities, past and present, of feminist creativity, critical reflection and political engagement through art. We are keen on pointing to local genealogies of feminist artivist and transformative practices, which have often been neglected, as some of the most vital and internationally renowned contributions to the Balkan region’s art histories.
The reasons for turning to the healing and often politically challenging properties of art are numerous, since the current crises have unfortunately exacerbated the already noticeable rise of domestic violence and the radicalization of right-wing, misogynist and homophobic movements, which have found new venues and pretexts to reassert their policies and camouflage their interest in contesting and instrumentalizing women’s reproductive rights, in denying women’s personal and professional affirmation, let alone in allowing LGBT people to be visible, if not even livable forms of humanity.
The discussion that we want to (re)open this year concerns the validity and the resilience artistic practices demonstrate when thematizing, confronting, or even transforming such pernicious processes, as well as the regional and global resonances these practices engender, not to mention the eventual concrete outcomes and metamorphoses they manage to
provoke.
Of course, this brings us back to a more general (self-)reflection upon the outline, the efficacy, and the status of feminist aesthetics within the broader critical context of feminist theory, epistemology, and politics: how does it reframe the historical and current roles of art – literature, cinema, theatre, film, plastic and body art, and especially transmedial experiments – in invigorating personal and collective resistance to oppression, whether it happens in familial or institutional settings?
What are the historical and contemporary examples of collaboration in producing art that could eventually also point to so far unknown forms of feminist solidarity? Is there a specific feminist artivist response to the growing neoliberal disintegration of society and its fortification by the recent necessity of digital interaction and social distancing? How can art respond to the inevitability of digitalization not only in professional contexts but also in newly adopted rituals of care, sociability and affection? How does art engage the everyday, mundane, micro-leveled strategies of survival, how does it reveal its own therapeutic capacities, how does it support anti-nationalist, anti-racist and green politics, how does it intervene with respect to unwelcome urban reconfigurations? What are the overlaps and
collaborations between political protests and artivist performances?
Eligibility:
IUC courses are conducted at the postgraduate level. All interested postgraduate students (in MA or PhD programs) may apply to participate, although the course targets young scholars and postgraduate students with a defined interest in women’s/gender studies, transnational studies, philosophy, sociology, literary and cultural studies, postcolonialism, or anthropology. The course will be limited to 15 students (25 participants in total) in order to provide sufficient space for discussion, seminar work and student presentations. The course directors open the possibility of online participation in case the epidemiological situation does not allow travel and gatherings in person. However, the organizers do hope that all participants will be able to gather in person in Dubrovnik. Participants must seek funding from their own institutions for the costs of travel, lodging and meals. Limited financial support is available for participants from parts of Eastern Europe and some non-European countries(please see http://www.iuc.hr/iuc-support.php). The IUC requires a payment of 50 EUR for the Course fee. The working language of the course is English.
Application Procedure:
Please submit a proposal consisting of your CV and a short narrative describing your interest in the topic or a 250-words abstract if you would like to present at the course. Place all current contact information at the top of your CV. Send submissions by e-mail to Mirela Dakić (mireladakic1@gmail.com). Use the subject: IUC Dubrovnik 2022. The proposal deadline is 15 February, 2022.