The LCCT is a free, inter-institutional, interdisciplinary conference in critical thought that takes place annually in different institutions across London. London Conference in Critical Thought (LCCT) is hosted and supported by the Centre for Invention and Social Progress (CISP) at the Department of Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London.

We warmly welcome anthropological contributions to the stream ‘Art MANIFESTOS: The future of an evolving form’.

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Art MANIFESTOS: The future of an evolving form

At a time when many regard the manifesto as a thing of the past, a defunct format, others see a resurgence in the production of manifestos cross-culturally: artists and activists still passionately pen and perform manifesto-type declarations. These can take militant forms in the spirit of avant-garde/nihilistic negation or more reconciliatory forms in the spirit of today’s creative industries and moderate politics. The manifestos of today can range from artist and curatorial statements to press releases and declarations describing political groups or counter-hegemonic actions.

By focusing on manifestos as a multimodal form, this stream explores the ways in which manifestos project a matrix of values pertinent to work in the cultural industries, underscore the ambivalent relationship between intention and outcome in politically-loaded statements, while conveying an underlying quest for ethical integrity in grassroots creative economies (Chrysagis 2019). Because manifestos, both written and performed, delineate forms of conduct, we aim to stress their function: what do these statements do, and how? To this effect, we examine the form and content of past and present manifestos, and how these elements allow us to place them in their cultural context and the history of the genre.

The manifesto, Luca Somigli notes, ‘remains a privileged way for dissenting or marginalized voices to speak out, to affirm their presence, to reach out to like-minded individuals and invite them to band together for a common cause’ (2003). According to Janet Lyon, ‘to write a manifesto is to participate symbolically in a history of struggle against dominant forces’ (1999). Yet, contrary to the association of manifestos with revolutionary politics and subversion, the history of the genre demonstrates that the manifesto constitutes ‘an extremely plural and open form’ (Yanoshevsky 2009).

Despite its open-ended and ever-changing form, it is possible to highlight specific formal characteristics of the manifesto and how it exerts its force and authority. In this regard, manifestos from different cultural traditions (e.g. curatorial statements in art biennials) can be understood as genres of writing sharing common vocabularies, preoccupations and themes (Kompatsiaris 2019). For Martin Puchner (2005) manifestos exhibit a tension between what he calls ‘performativity’ and ‘theatricality’, while a rupture with the past, a focus on now and a sense of urgency in embracing the new can be traced in the evolution of the genre – though as Laura Winkiel points out such a break reflects a linear ‘Eurocentric notion of history’ (2008), which has been very different from the perception of historical time in postcolonial contexts.

We invite responses, written or otherwise, from academics, artists and activists to the following questions:

What is the purpose of writing a manifesto – a relic of modernism – today?
How have classic manifesto forms evolved in today’s PR, networking and visibility economies?
What are the characteristics that make the manifesto most effective?
How do manifestos encapsulate the relationship between politics, ethics and action?
How can we critique political and avant-garde manifestos and use these lessons in future provocations?


Stream Organisers:
Dr Evangelos Chrysagis ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>)
Dr Panos Kompatsiaris ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>)

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Please send abstracts for papers and presentations proposals with relevant stream title indicated in the subject line to: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>

Abstracts should be no more than 250 words and must be received by Monday, 25 March 2019.

http://londoncritical.org/

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