Final Call for Papers

‘Object Matters: Making Memory: material and visual culture of commemoration in Ireland c.1800 - 2016’

13-15 October 2016

National Gallery of Ireland, Merrion Square, Dublin 2, Ireland

Funded by the Irish Research Council 'New Foundations' Scheme

Deadline for proposals 12 July, 2016

Proposals of c.300 words accompanied by a short CV are invited for 20-minute papers related to the material and visual culture of commemoration in Ireland from c.1800 to the present day. Please email to [log in to unmask].

Confirmed speakers include Emily Mark Fitzgerald, Dominic Bryant, Gerry Kearns, Laura McAtackney  Nicholas Allen, Declan Long, Guy Beiner and Brian Crowley.

This cross-disciplinary conference will address how objects, images, artworks, buildings, spaces and bodies have worked and been understood in the creation and maintenance of public and private memory in Ireland since c.1800. While topics might include key personages and events such as World War 1, the Irish Civil War and the Manchester Martyrs, we also encourage proposals that address the commemoration of lesser-known histories.

Commemorative culture might encompass events such as ceremonies and parades, artefacts such as souvenirs or artworks, institutional practices such as collecting and exhibiting, particular sites such as commemorative buildings, graveyards and ceremonial spaces, and private modes of visual and material remembrance such as domestic mnemonic objects.

The conference should contribute to our understanding of how ideas about the past have been visualised, manufactured, articulated, materialised, distributed and performed.

Proposals are welcomed from researchers and practitioners across various fields including Art practice, Archaeology, Anthropology, Geography, Architectural History, History of Design, Material Culture, Visual Culture, Memory Studies, Museum Studies, Art History, History of Media, Cultural History, Sociology and Critical theory. A publication is planned based on the conference proceedings. For the proceedings of the first Object Matters conference Making 1916: material and visual culture of the Easter Rising, see http://liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/products/60501.

Deadline July 12, 2016. Participants will be notified by July 22.

Conference Convenor Dr. Lisa Godson, National College of Art & Design

Conference Administrator Kate Butler, BL

Supported by the National College of Art and Design + University College Dublin Centre for Creative Arts and Critical Cultures,  National Gallery of Ireland, Irish Museums Association, Irish Architecture Foundation, GradCAM

Enquiries and proposals should be directed to: [log in to unmask]