Apologies for cross-posting.
INTERIOR LIVES
The Modern Interiors Research Centre Conference, Kingston University, London
Thursday 13TH and Friday 14TH May 2010
The annual conference of the Modern Interiors Research Centre has
established itself as a leading forum for international, interdisciplinary debate
on the history and theory of the modern interior. In 2010 the conference will
bring together architectural and design historians, theoreticians and
practitioners, to explore the theme of Interior Lives.
Historians and theorists working within a range of disciplinary contexts and
historiographical traditions are turning to biography as means of exploring and
accounting for social, cultural and material change. The conference will
consider the historical insights that ethno/auto/biographical investigations into
the lives of individuals, groups and interiors can offer architectural and design
historians; the methodological issues that arise from the use of
ethno/auto/biographical sources to explore the history of the interior as a site
in which everyday life is experienced and performed; and the ways in which
contemporary architects and interior designers draw on personal and collective
histories in their practice.
We welcome proposals for 20-minute conference papers. Papers may take the
form of historical or contemporary case studies that examine an aspect of the
visual, material or spatial culture of the interior with reference to the
conference theme of life writing, and might explore:
The Lives of Interiors and Interior Objects: Ethno/auto/biographical
investigations into the lifecycle of interiors; the lives of interior objects; the
significance of the interior as a site in which memories are produced,
represented and invoked.
Interiority/Private Lives: Embodied histories and the use of biographical
approaches and sources to historicise socio-spatial practices; examine psychic
and spatial dimensions of interiority.
Professional Lives: The use of biographical methods and materials to
investigate the professional activities of designers; map professional and client
networks; explore, locate and account for aspects of professional practice.
Shared Lives: The use of life writing to represent and account for shared
histories and experiences; histories of public environments and their social
use; private lives in public spaces, such as the representation of personal and
collective histories in the museum or gallery.
Methodologies and Sources: Biography as a form of historical writing on the
interior; auto/biography as an investigative/analytic tool; the use of auto-
ethnographic narratives as a means of exploring the interiors of minority
groups and cultures; auto-ethnography as an approach to thinking about
disciplinary developments.
An abstract of 300 words should be submitted to [log in to unmask]
(subject header: INTERIOR LIVES). Please include a separate biographical
paragraph (maximum 200 words) including your institutional affiliation, position,
and the title of your paper. This will appear in the conference programme if
your paper is selected. The deadline for receipt of abstracts is FRIDAY 8TH
JANUARY 2010.
Speakers may also submit their papers for consideration to the Journal
Interiors: Design, Architecture, Culture jointly edited by Anne Massey (MIRC,
Kingston University) and John Turpin (Department of Interior Design,
Washington State University). Please see www.bergjournals.com/interiors for
further details.
The conference organisers also welcome poster submissions. Posters may
address the specific theme of the conference OR explore another aspect of
the history and theory of the modern interior. For poster guidelines please
contact [log in to unmask]
|