Conferences Africa » SocioLingo Africa

Conference : The past and its possibilities - perspectives of Southern Africa, June 2011

Aug 112010

Conference announcement
Please circulate widely.

Southern African Historical Society
23rd Biennial Conference
27-29 June 2011
University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

**THE PAST & ITS POSSIBILITIES: PERSPECTIVES OF SOUTHERN AFRICA**

Recent conferences have seen a renewed sense of intellectual and professional commitment to historical scholarship in and about
Southern Africa, with vigorous debates about the relevance of history and heritage, and of historians as public intellectuals and citizens of democratic countries. The 23rd SAHS Biennial Conference – to be held at the University of KwaZulu-Natal between 27 and 29 June 2011 - will build this momentum, and the organisers invite papers and panels around the broad theme of ‘The Past and its Possibilities: Perspectives of Southern Africa.’

For from abalone, anger and archives through to xenophobia, zombies and zymurgy, the range of topics being researched by historians of Southern Africa is perhaps wider than ever before; and from the singing of revolutionary songs by politicians in the name of cultural history, to oral histories as an instrument of healing, to local histories in the service of grassroots politics and pay-to-order institutional histories, the utility of the past makes it of interest to many parties. New technologies and globalization are also challenging us to rethink how research and publishing can be enabled. The possibilities of the past are thus being explored in multiple ways in the 21st century, with significant implications for historical perspectives of Southern Africa.

A Call for Papers will be circulated in September 2010.

Panels, papers, roundtables, discussions and commentaries may reflect on a broad range of perspectives and possibilities including:

Histories of: any topic of history with an emphasis on new perspectives or former topics revisited.

Histories to and from: considerations of inter-generational, cross- regional, trans-national and global histories thought about and from Southern Africa

Histories to hurt or to heal: How can studies of the past speak truth to power, or resist pandering to it?

The past and its publics, or “histories ‘to-go’”: in what ways is the past being commodified, ordered, contracted, and deployed for a variety of needs: public, nationalist, institutional, legal and commemorative?

Histories and historians lost and found: What questions about the past are being asked and which are not? What are taboo, neglected, unfashionable, and/or down-right dangerous historical perspectives and topics; what is current scholarship missing?

Mediating the Past: film, documentary, art, exhibitions, poetry, news media, and song all draw on and represent perspectives of the past: we encourage discussions and displays from scholars and practitioners in the media, art and cultural sectors who have an interest in the dialogue between past, present and future.

History’s know-how: new information and technological tools; archives in crisis or better opportunities for collaborative projects?

Confirmed keynote speakers: Antoinette Burton and Jacob Dlamini

Antoinette Burton of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has published widely on the histories of gender, empire, political
culture, world history, and archives. Professor Burton was, with Jean Allman, co-editor of the Journal of Women’s History between 2004 and 2010, and is a Guggenheim Fellow 2010-2011.

Jacob Dlamini is the award winning author of Native Nostalgia (Jacana: 2009); columnist, and PhD student in History.

More information

Watch the SAHS website http://www.sahs.org.za

Enquiries to Julie Parle parlej@ukzn.ac.za

Julie Parle
Associate Professor
Email: parlej@ukzn.ac.za

Africa Arts : Benin1897.com Art and the Restitution Question

1 Response »

Aug 092010

From the court of Benin, Nigeria. Housed in the British Museum, England

[Photo credit: ellenm1]

About the colloquium and Exhibition

The colloquium and travelling art exhibition called Benin1897.com: Art and the Restitution Question by Benin artist Peju Layiwola took place from 8th April-30th May 2010 in the main auditorium gallery of the University of Lagos in Nigeria. You will find the site http://www.benin1897.com of interest.

The artist-artist scholar, Peju Layiwola, a Lecturer in the Department of Creative Arts, University of Lagos will be showing her recent works in a solo exhibition entitled Benin1897.com: Art and the Restitution Question at the Main auditorium gallery of the University of Lagos, Nigeria. The exhibition will be declared open by HRH, Prince Edun Akenzua, the Enogie of Obazuwa. Subsequently after this opening, the exhibition will travel from Lagos through, Ibadan, Abuja and Benin till the end of the year. The exhibition will hold in Ibadan from 19 August to 19 September at the Museum of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan. The Edo State Government will be hosting the show later at the Benin Venue and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments in Abuja. This exhibition comes up to mark the 50th year anniversary of Nigeria.

Benin1897.com provokes you to step into a triple-layer of discursive event as seen through the exhibition of the artist, Peju Layiwola, a colloquium and publication by nine scholars drawn from across the globe on the vexed issue of art-stripping and the restitution question in relation to Benin. Benin1897.com refers to the British ‘Punitive’ Expedition and also presents an artist’s impression of this cultural rape of Benin. It seeks to recontextualise the event of the invasion, during which the nascent British imperialists sacked an ancient government and its monarch, Ovonramwen (ruled c.1888-1897), and looted its, largely bronze and ivory, art works over a schism that seems more orchestrated than real. Till date, families from the old kingdom still speak of their losses, in human and material terms, yet our world speaks tongue-in-cheek.

Over the years, Peju Layiwola has been experimenting with forms and media ranging from terracotta, copper, bronze and gold, among others. The current exhibition could as well be described as her most ambitious; at once affective and deeply contemplative, it arrives with a 244-page publication and catalogue with 154 colour illustrations. The pathos of the Omo N’Oba’s foreword in the catalogue is unmistakable: “The year 1897 means much to me and my people; it was the year the British invaded our land and forcefully removed thousands of our bronze and ivory works from my great grandfather, Oba Ovonramwen’s Palace.”

Such rendering also runs through Peju Layiwola, herself a scion of the Benin kingdom; A granddaughter of Oba Akenzua II (1933-1979) and a daughter of the sculptress, Princess Elizabeth Olowu. Early sneak reviews suggest that, besides its intellectual content, this effort could equally be read as an exercise in filial cultural intervention, something not just of a professional obligation but an anxiety to fill an autobiographical void. Through this cultural action for freedom, the past seems to be indicting the present, as one off-spring of a brutish encounter is beginning to throw barbs of indictment at past abuse of power. Speaking in a tone quite similar to HRM, Peju in relation to the stolen artefacts, remarks sharply that: “They who once enjoyed the splendour of the palace are now trapped behind glass wall in foreign lands.”

The exhibition opens with a colloquium on the issue of restitution and the repatriation of cultural property to Nigeria. Speakers are Professor Folarin Shyllon, Former Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan and Professor Ademola Popoola, Dean, Faculty of Law, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife. The chair of the colloquium is Professor Akin Oyebode, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos

This historical exhibition is expected to run for about two months to enable as many primary and secondary schools organize study tours. Workbooks for students will be made available for free at the venue.

The accompanying publication features essays by
Kwame Opoku, Commentator on Cultural Affairs.
Folarin Shyllon, Former Dean of Law, University of Ibadan, Nigeria,
Professor Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA,
Professor Freida High, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA,
Mimi Wolford, Director, Mbari Institute for Contemporary African Art, Washington DC, USA ,
Professor Mabel Evwierhoma, University of Abuja, Nigeria,
Benson Eluma, Cambridge University, UK,
Akinwale Onipede, University of Lagos. Nigeria,
Dr Victor Osaro Edo, University of Ibadan, Nigeria,
Dr Peju Layiwola, University of Lagos, Nigeria,
Dr Sola Olorunyomi, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, co-editor and curator.

This project is supported by The Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), the Edo State Government, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Abuja, the University of Lagos and the University of Ibadan.

More Information

For more information, visit http://www.benin1897.com
Sola Olorunyomi (curator)

Suggested Books (US)

Benin: Royal Arts of a West African Kingdom (Art Institute of Chicago)
Benin: Kings and Rituals

Suggested Books (UK)

Benin: Royal Arts of a West African Kingdom (Art Institute of Chicago)
The Art of Benin (2010)

Nigeria 1960 Independence, 50 years later, Conference July 2010

2 Responses »

Jun 242010

Ibadan street market, Nigeria

[Photo credit: luigig under a Creative Commons license]

There will be a conference on “Nigeria 1960 Independence, 50 years later” to be held in Ibadan, Nigeria, 5 – 7 July 2010 organised by the IFRA Ibadan 5-7 July,2010 in connection with the Africa-Indian Ocean Group, Laboratoire SEDET, Université Denis Diderot-Paris 7, Paris

The independence proclamation of Gold Coast in March 1957 opened an era called the ‘suns of Independence’ of sub-Saharan Africa. However, majority of African countries including Nigeria did not attain independence before 1960 which opened the path for African freedom. 2010 marks, for many countries of the continent among which Nigeria, the fiftieth anniversary of the political accession to independence. Fifty years after independence, the IFRA Ibadan Conference want to offer a reflexion on the 1960 events : How did the Nigerians welcome the emancipation ?

The organizers wish to provide a forum for presenting new researches. The papers will be published in connection with the publication of the results of the International Conference of December 2010 in Paris. The Ibadan conference aims to stimulate the search for new sources and new perspectives.

The approach adopted by the IFRA relates to all aspects or situations of the very moment of Independence i.e. 1960 :

1/ How the Nigerians perceived independence as it approached ? What were their expectations irrespectively to their social categories (teachers, senior or junior civil servants, peasants, market women and petty traders ??)?

2/ How did the Nigerian people live the independence day but also the few years which preceded it or followed it ? What was the atmosphere like in Nigeria then and in Nigerian communities abroad (Individual enthusiasm and official initiatives)? Was the spirit of celebration very much the same on the official platforms where the celebration of independence took place and in private compounds where common folks stayed?

3/ About hopes and plural memory of Independence, could we follow M. Crowder when he said in 1988 : ??Whose dream was it anyway ? » ? What are the changing perspectives of the independence moment from 1960 to present day? From ominira to omi nira, as it is said in Yoruba ? How did changes occurred in the celebrations of the independence since 1960?

4/ Do we have new sources to recreate the lived moments of 1960 by the means of the most diverse documents (photographs, newspaper reports, objects, documentaries, news and analysis (radio and television), artistic production (painting, sculpture, drama), slogans, printed materials for the occasion, direct or indirect, oral or written testimonies, contemporary or posterior monuments, emblems (anthems, flags, mementos, souvenirs??), repertory of songs and dances, fashion collection, commemorative textile)?

The conference « Nigeria 1960 Independence, 50 years later » will be partly focused on Nigerian independence through grassroot experience i.e. on the daily experience of the witnesses who represent various segments of the nation under construction. Other aspects will be also examined according to the proposals. We will alternate between an update of collective or personal memories and the play of memory, between rebuilding and commemoration.

For more information

contact : ifra.cfp2010@yahoo.fr with Re : « Nigeria 1960 Independence, 50 years later » in the subject line.

Organising committee: Dr Aderonke A. Adesanya (Univ. of Ibadan), Prof. Olakunle Lawal (Univ. of Ibadan), Prof. A. Olukoju (UNILAG), Dr Jean-Luc Martineau (IFRA-SEDET-INALCO)

Suggested Books (US)

Suggested Books (UK)

CFP : Dynamic Interlinkages Between Social and Ecosystem Changes - Towards a Europe Africa Partnership

No Responses »

Jun 232010

This is a Call for Applications/Papers for the Europe-Africa Frontier Research Conference on ‘Dynamic Interlinkages Between Social and Ecosystem Changes: Towards a Europe Africa Partnership‘, Hulshort, The Netherlands, 8-12 November 2010.
www.esf.org/conferences/10339

Human wellbeing and the Earth system on which it depends are in transition involving complex dynamic interactions and feedbacks. Global changes include profound alterations of ecosystems and the services they provide to humanity. Drivers of environmental change are likely to intensify as human population grows and consumption expands. Some of the changes to the Earth system have improved access for millions of people to food, water, and other services satisfying basic human needs. On the other hand, unintended consequences from these changes threaten food security, energy security, human health, livelihoods and other aspects of our wellbeing. Deeper understanding and awareness of these changes and the underlying social-ecological systems’ interactions enhances our capacity for remedial and corrective action and offers hope of effective response. The challenge of sustainable development is to grasp this opportunity and transform social-ecological systems to provide food, water, energy, health and human security in a manner that is economically, ecologically and socially viable for people in all parts of the world in the current timeframe, and for many generations in the future.

Recognition of the urgent need for actions to sustain achieved gains in human wellbeing without compromising capacity of ecosystems to provide for future generations is very high in the current agenda of global policy fora and agencies (e.g. CBD, World Food Summit, Diversitas Congress, IUCN, UNESCO and others) and other regional and national actors and stakeholders in sustainable development. We seem to be at a crucial juncture where science, technology, policy and other communities can begin to work together to achieve more favorable planetary conditions. A great diversity of institutional arrangements, policies and practices have been proposed to achieve these goals. Yet many challenges remain on how to choose among the many options. Success and failure appear to be context-specific and no particular policy or practice is likely to solve all problems, in all places and times. At present, there are critical gaps in our knowledge of the social, biological, biogeochemical and physical foundations needed to make decisions for a sustainable future.

Inspired by ICSU’s new Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society, the goal of the ESF Research Conference is to exchange experiences that will help us begin to understand transformations toward or away from sustainable development, including measures for eradication of poverty and halting environmental degradation.

The conference focus will be on comparing findings of research that studies social-ecological systems’ interactions associated with specific landscapes, seascapes or coastal regions. There is remarkable geographic variability in policies, practices and outcomes for management of natural capital, flows of ecosystem services, and human outcomes. Invited speakers and presenters will be drawn from a range of disciplines, research approaches and findings based on diverse sources of information including narrative, qualitative and quantitative data and historical records in addition to more traditional technical monitoring tools and remote sensing.

Co-Chairs: Prof. Marja J. Spierenburg, VU University Amsterdam, NL & Prof. Rashid M. Hassan, Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy in Africa, ZA

List of Invited Speakers according to the theme (to be completed):
* SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND ECOSYSTEM CHANGES
Arun Agrawal – University of Michigan, US
James Murombedzi – tbc
* MANAGING TRADEOFFS BETWEEN MULTIPLE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
Line Gordon – Stockholm Resilience Centre, SE
Belinda Reyers – CSIR, SA
* RESILIENCE AND VULNERABILITY OF SOCIAL AND ECOSYSTEMS TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Anantha Duraiappah – United Nation Environment Programme
Brian Walker – tbc
* BIODIVERSITY, ECOSYSTEM CHANGE AND HUMAN WELLBEING
Thembela Kepe – University of Toronto, CA
Charles Perrings – Arizona State University, US
* DRIVERS OF ECOSYSTEM AND SOCIAL CHANGE
Eduardo Brondizio – Indiana University, US
Bruce Campbell – tbc
Peter Minang – CGIAR, US

Some grants available for early stage researchers to cover the conference fee and possibly part of the travel costs. Grant requests should be made by ticking appropriate field(s) in the paragraph “Grant application” of the application form.

Full conference programme accessible online from www.esf.org/conferences/10339.

ESF contact for further information: Alessandra Piccolotto - apiccolotto@esf.org

Closing date for applications: 8 July 2010.

This conference is organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF), in partnership with the International Council for Science (ICSU).

Links of Interest:

* ESF Research Conferences Call for Proposals – for 2012 Conferences
The European Science Foundation invites scientists to submit proposals for high-level research conferences to take place in 2012. For further information on the call: www.esf.org/conferences/call.
* ESF Research Conferences – 2011 Programme now available from www.esf.org/conf2011.

Suggested Books (US)

Suggested Books (UK)

In Africa Partnership and Collaboration is the Way Forward

1 Response »

Jun 232010

[Photo credit: DFID - UK Department for International Development under a Creative Commons license]

Partnership and collaboration seem to be keywords in Africa discussions these days. The following press release from the NextGen Africa Forum hosted by Goods for Good explains a little why that trend is important.

New York, 17 June 2010 – Earlier this week Goods for Good hosted the NextGen Africa Forum at NYU’s Kimmel Center, where The Right Honorable Joyce Banda, Vice President of Malawi, gave an address on the plight of Africa’s 50 million orphans to an audience of 350 NGO’s, key experts in the field and other interested individuals.

The Forum was initiated by Goods for Good Founder and Executive Director, Melissa Kushner, in order to facilitate discussion the creation of partnerships for advancing Africa’s next generation. ” The issue is too complex for any one organization to tackle alone,” she explained. “We’re hosting NextGen Africa to encourage dialogue, partnership, and collaboration between organizations working towards the same goal of helping to create a better future for these children and their communities.”

Setting the tone for the evening, Vice President Joyce Banda started by giving numerous examples of how the situation in Africa is not hopeless. Interventions, when implemented properly, can and do have a real impact on the ground. “By working with local leadership – chiefs and local village leaders who are a powerful, critical mass of local leaders – important change can be made in communities. These leaders are the custodians of tradition. People listen to them because they are respected and have authority.” – she explained. Most pointedly, Vice President Banda highlighted a program spearheaded by her Foundation, which has reduced child malnutrition in Malawi from 20% to 2%.

Joyce Banda’s inspiring speech was followed by a Q & A discussion panel , complemented by Dr. Jane Aronson (Founder and CEO of the Worldwide Orphans Foundation), Ann Veneman (Former Executive Director of UNICEF) and moderated by Claire Gaudiani, author of The Greater Good.

“Working in partnership is critical. Different organizations with different goals constantly going into countries and doing their own thing doesn’t work,” said Ann Veneman. “We have to create collaborative, community approaches that will be sustainable over the long term.”

The general consensus amongst the panel and audience was that to address the issue of orphans and vulnerable children, you must first address the larger issue of poverty. For example, micro-finance programs can stimulate the economy, increase household income and provide parents with the means to better care for themselves, thereby reducing the risk of parents deaths and therefore orphans.

Increased parental income also enables the education of girls, who are customarily pulled from school first when faced with a lack of funds. When girls are unable to gain an education they typically marry at the age of 13 or 14, have children soon thereafter and enter the viscous cycle of lack of education, low income, poor nutrition including lack of pre-natal care and increased risk for early parental death.

But the concern that African orphan crisis is too large to confront with viable solutions was addressed unanimously by all parties. The resounding opinion was that “we must divide up the pie” and help one child at a time with culturally appropriate solutions.. There are many ways for individuals to become a part of the solution, starting with supporting www.goods4good.org. For just $10, Goods for Good can provide a child with the materials they need to gain an education. Joyce Banda explained: “Melissa’s nonprofit , Goods for Good, is partnering with people on the ground, and that’s the way to do it.”

About The Right Honorable Joyce Banda:

Joyce Banda is the first female Malawian Vice President. An influential advocate for women and children’s rights, she previously served as Minister of Gender, Child Welfare and Community Development and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Among other notable achievements, she received the International Award for Health and Dignity of Women by Americans for UNFPA and founded the National Association for Business for Women, a network of over 30,000 women. She also founded the Young Women Leaders Network, and the Joyce Banda Scholarship Foundation, which provides scholarships for secondary school children in Malawi.

About Goods for Good:

Goods for Good (G4G) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2006 to promote the educational and emotional development of orphans and vulnerable children in developing nations. Through partnerships with international companies and grassroots organizations abroad, Goods for Good provides much needed school supplies, clothing and health and hygiene products to children in need while at the same time reducing waste at home. To date, Goods for Good has rescued and delivered over 120 tons of surplus goods reaching over 510,000 vulnerable children and their communities.

To learn more, visit www.goods4good.org.

Videos of the speeches and Q&A can be seen at: http://vimeo.com/goods4good/videos.

Suggested Books (US)

Suggested Books (UK)

Africa CFP : Research Institute for Swahili Studies in East Africa

1 Response »

Jun 202010

Mombasa, Kenya

[Photo credit: Victor O' under a Creative Commons license]

This is a call for papers for the inaugural Rissea International Scientific Conference on Swahili Research and Development in Eastern Africa, 25th – 27th November 2010

About the conference

The Research Institute of Swahili Studies of Eastern Africa (RISSEA) will be hosting its Inaugural International Scientific Conference themed ‘Swahili Research and Development in Eastern Africa’. The conference aims to bring together leading researchers, students, teachers and all other Swahili researchers for a 3 day conference in November 2010

The Research Institute of Swahili Studies of Eastern Africa (RISSEA) was conceived in 2004 and became a fully fledged directorate within the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) in 2007. RISSEA is therefore a fully fledged directorate of the NMK charged with carrying out and coordinating basic and applied research on the Swahili Speaking people of the East Africa’s coast and its Diaspora.

The Institute appreciates that apart from inquiry into the Swahili peoples, the language, Kiswahili, has the potential to serve as a medium of economical, political, and social integration in the wider East African region hence the motivation to enhance inquiry and research into its structure, function and applicability. Indeed, the language has a role to play in the realization of Kenya’s Vision 2030 and other planning and policy strategies. The language is widely used for a variety of purposes including awareness creation and intervention in strategies at the grassroots hence it’s highly appreciated unifying role. As a result therefore, RISSEA spearheaded research should be appreciated for its role in contribution to the development of the nation and region economically, culturally and ethically; and the enhancement of uncontested African identity.

Though spoken widely in the region, there is however, need to fully understand the cultural contexts and usage of Kiswahili lexicons , in order to ease communication. The Institute researches the role that Kiswahili has and continues to play in linguistic and socio-economic development. Swahili cultural origins and evolution forms the crust of the Institute’s research inquiry into Swahili identity and the diversity within. Ethnic communities bordering the Swahili are to be investigated and the cultural bonds that exist between these affable communities will be harnessed and utilised to encourage inter and intra ethnic coexistence in the forging of nationhood.

The East African coast, being the cradle of the Swahili is endowed with natural resources such as the sea, forest, wild animals, fisheries etc from which the livelihoods of the people have been derived and sustained. The environmental concerns thus made the Swahili utilise their traditional knowledge to ensure the resources’ existence. An inquiry into such livelihoods, past and present further inform the research agenda at the Institute.

This Research agenda of the Institute, being briefly outlined above, is captured in the objectives as articulated below:-

RISSEA Research policy Objective:

The Institute has the following objectives in the pursuit of its research agenda:

1. To carry out scientific research into various aspects of the history and development of Swahili peoples including:
a. History and development of the people and their culture
b. Language, linguistics & Literature (oral and written)
c. Traditional and modern performances

2. To study Swahili material culture including;
a. Architecture & construction technologies
b. Scientific and technological innovations
c. Dress and aesthetics

3. To study Swahili indigenous knowledge and its impact on the environment including:
a. Oceanography
b. Astronomy and Astrology
c. Agriculture
d. Traditional medical and spiritual Practices
e. Culinary arts
f. Other related aspects

How to submit papers

The Institute invites abstracts that respond to any one of the listed subthemes being derived from the broad theme as outlined.

Main theme: Swahili Research and Development in Eastern Africa

Sub Themes:

i. Kiswahili, National and Eastern Africa identity, integration and development
ii. Swahili research and Technology innovation
iii. Research into Swahili Dialects and Development
iv. Swahili Research and Media Communication
v. Swahili Literature and culture
vi. The Swahili and Environmental challenges
vii. Kiswahili in the Diaspora
viii. The Swahili and oceanography
ix. The Swahili and maritime trends
x. The Swahili and Lifestyle
xi. Research on Swahili religious and spiritual life
xii. Research and the teaching of Kiswahili

Conference Dates:

Arrival, Registration and Official Opening: 24th November 2010

Conference dates: 25th – 27th November 2010

Official Closing : 27th November 2010, Evening

Excursion:
Sunday, 28th November 2010

Important Timelines:

Deadline for submission of abstracts: 30th June 2010

Communication to successful paper authors: 15th July 2010

Submission of full papers: 30th October 2010

Location and Venue: Mombasa, Whitesands Beach Hotel

Conference languages: Kiswahili & English

Registration fee:
East African Region participants: Kshs. 7,500.00 (Including Ethiopia and Somalia)

National Museums of Kenya Participants: Kshs. 3,000.00

Local University Students: Kshs. 2,000

Rest of the World participants: US $ 300

Find out more
Director, RISSEA, P.O. Box 90508, MOMBASA

Email: rissea@africaonline.co.ke
kmmar02@gmail.com
info@amazingspace.co.ke

RISSEA website: www.rissea.org

Conference website: www.risseascientificconference.org

Africa CFP : Africa and Its Diasporas in the Market Place - Cultural Resources and the Global Economy

No Responses »

Jun 202010

This is a Call for Panels and Papers for the Fifteenth Triennial Symposium on African Art: Africa and Its Diasporas in the Market Place: Cultural Resources and the Global Economy, University of California, Los Angeles, March 23 to 26, 2011. There are some limited grants for African presenters, so make sure you apply early. The deadline for proposals is Nov 15 2010. All proposals should be sent as requested below to program chair Doran H. Ross at dross@arts.ucla.edu.

The core theme of the 2011 ACASA symposium examines the current status of Africa’s cultural resources and the influence—for good or ill—of market forces both inside and outside the continent. As nation states decline in influence and power, and corporations, private patrons and foundations increasingly determine the kinds of cultural production that will be supported, how is African art being reinterpreted and by whom? Are artists and scholars able to successfully articulate their own intellectual and cultural values in this climate? Is there anything we can do to address the situation?

Within this broad sweep the Triennial Program Committee has identified a number of potential panel, and roundtable topics that might provoke interest. They include: (1)Publications and market driven scholarship; (2)The museum industry, the branding of artists, and creating a canon; (3)Funding of research initiatives: opportunities and challenges; (4)Selling contemporary art in Africa: artists, galleries, patrons; (5)Forging traditions: the mass production and commodification of classic genres; (6)Auctioning Africa from the 19th c. to the present day: cultural property and the market place; (7)Hiring, promotion, and tenure in downsizing economies; (8) Public vs. private sectors in the valuation of African art; (9)Copyrights and fees for intellectual and cultural property; (10)Tourism and the packaging of African expressive culture.

Of course, this list is meant to be suggestive not exhaustive, and submissions on any topic beyond the core theme are also welcome.

Guidelines for Submissions

The program committee encourages the submission of panels with four twenty minute papers plus a discussant and roundtables with a maximum of eight ten-minute presentations. Proposals for panels and roundtables seeking participants will be posted on the ACASA listserv (not on the H-AfrArts listserv) as they are received. The ACASA listserv is restricted to ACASA members and is separate from the H-AfrArts listserv. Proposals for individual papers seeking a panel will be matched appropriately or will be grouped in general panels.

Regardless of panel, roundtable, or paper, all proposals must include the following: (1)Title; (2)A proposal abstract not to exceed two hundred words; (3)Media requirements (Powerpoint, video, etc); (4)Full contact information including mailing address, phone, and email of the presenter

Participants may present one paper only, but may serve as a discussant on another panel or serve as a presenter on a roundtable. All proposals should be sent to program chair Doran H. Ross at dross@arts.ucla.edu. The deadline for panel and roundtable proposals seeking participants is November 15, 2010, and the final deadline for fully composed panels and roundtables and individual papers is December 15, 2010. As a reminder, all presenters at the Triennial must be members of ACASA prior to acceptance of their proposal.

Travel Support and Stipends

A limited number of grants for up to $2,000 will be awarded to presenters who apply and are traveling from Africa and the Caribbean. Likewise, a limited number of $500 travel stipends will be awarded to graduate students. To apply, simply indicate with your paper proposal your interest in travel support and your point of departure for Los Angeles.

via H-AfrArts
H-Net Network for African Expressive Culture
E -Mail: H-AFRARTS@H-NET.MSU.EDU
http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~artsweb/

CFP : Sub-Saharan Africa in the 1970s. Crises, Conflicts and Transformations, Italy Jan 2011

3 Responses »

Jun 192010

This is a call for papers for the conference on Sub-Saharan Africa in the 1970s. Crises, Conflicts and Transformations 21-22 Jan 2011.

Please note the deadline for abstracts of 15 July 2010. Accommodation but not travel expenses are offered for accepted speakers. There may be a limited number of travel grants for participants coming from Africa, so if you are intending to submit a paper get your submission in early. For more information please contact the organisers (see the end of the advert).

The Center of Historical and Political Studies on Africa and the Middle East based at the Department of Politics, Institutions, History (University of Bologna), in co-operation with the Working Group on “Transitions in (Southern) Africa” of the European Association of Development Institutes (EADI) will host the international conference: “Sub-Saharan Africa in the 1970s. Crises, Conflicts and Transformations” in Bologna (Italy) on 21-22 January 2011.

During the 1970s Sub-Saharan Africa experienced deep political, economic and social transformations. The crises of the post-colonial nation-building processes were compounded by growing authoritarian practices and faltering economic growth under the notion of a “developmental state”, which failed to achieve such development for the majority of people. State institutions were further weakened by armed conflicts deeply embroiled in Cold War rivalries. This process was particularly pronounced in the Horn of Africa, where the Ethiopia-Somalia war paved the way to further superpowers’ involvement in regional politics, and in Southern Africa. The late decolonization of Angola and Mozambique was followed by deeply internationalized civil wars in both countries. While Namibia’s independence was denied by South Africa’s military occupation, a new wave of popular protest within the latter was met by violent repression. Finally, only in December 1979 the Lancaster House Agreement put an end to the armed conflict in Rhodesia.

Papers are invited that address the following issues:

the political, economic and social factors that undermined the nation-building processes in Sub-Saharan Africa during the 1970s,

the exhaustion of the state-led economic development model and the origins of the debt crisis.

the armed conflicts and the military and diplomatic role of regional and international actors,

the independence struggles in Southern Africa.

Abstracts (500 words maximum) should be sent to:

Dr. Arrigo Pallotti (arrigo.pallotti@unibo.it) and Dr. Mario Zamponi (mario.zamponi@unibo.it) before 15 July 2010. Authors of accepted papers will be contacted by 31 August 2010 at the latest. Final papers should be submitted by 15 November 2010.

Speakers will be offered accommodation in Bologna, but they are requested to cover their travel costs. A limited number of travel grants may be available for speakers coming from Africa.

Scientific Board
Members of the scientific board are: Prof. Anna Maria Gentili (University of Bologna), Dr. Mario Zamponi (University of Bologna), Prof. Ian Phimister (University of Sheffield), Dr. Henning Melber (Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, Uppsala), Dr. Arrigo Pallotti (University of Bologna), Prof. Mario del Pero (University of Bologna).

Roberta Pellizzoli, Centre of Historical and Political Studies on Africa and the Middle East
Department of Politics, Institutions, History
University of Bologna, Italy
email: roberta.pellizzoli@unibo.it

CFP : Elite Formation, Consumption and Urban Spaces – Cultural Perspectives on African Decolonization

2 Responses »

Jun 192010

This is a Call for Papers for the conference on Elite Formation, Consumption and Urban Spaces – Cultural Perspectives on African Decolonization. Please note the deadline for abstracts 7 July 2010. There appears to be funding available for participants, so you need to get your abstracts in quickly to be considered.

Please see the website for further details or contact the organisers (see the end of the advert).

http://www.sfb-repraesentationen.de/veranstaltungen/tagungen-und-workshops/elite-formation/

Collaborative Research Centre 640 “Representations of Changing Social Orders” Subproject African Modernity Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Berlin, Germany, 26th/27th November 2010

Venue: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, International Research Centre ”Work and Human Life Cycle in Global History”, Georgenstrasse 23, 10117 Berlin

Organizers: Regina Finsterhölzl and Daniel Tödt

Introduction: Prof. Dr. Andreas Eckert

Keynote address: Dr. Sean Nixon

Senior Discussants: N.N. // N.N.

Deadline: 7th July 2010

During the second half of the twentieth century the African continent was shaped not only by political but also by social and cultural change and crisis. In the rapidly growing cities, new social spaces and groups emerged. These actors often portrayed themselves as ‘modern’, and their emerging social practice not only mirrored this change but also played an active part in moving the boundaries of social distinction in colonial societies – between new elites, traditional elites, urban middle classes and workers as well as Europeans. This transcending of boundaries can be explored in many different ways. New marketing strategies for consumer products and luxury goods, promising a career, success, and high social status, aimed at urban elites and middle classes. Political imaginations were debated in the press; in clubs and associations an emerging collective identity could be negotiated. New cultural codes in language, clothing, behavior, leisure time and sociability evolved, at times challenging the colonial order.

Focusing on the practice and discourse of African actors, the workshop looks at decolonization not only as a political but also as a profoundly cultural process, and seeks connections between both approaches. Possible topics include advertising messages of marketing experts; the local appropriation of European consumer goods; social spaces of the urban elite and middle classes; places of sociability in the cities and debates about cultural developments and political events.

In discussions about their ongoing research projects, participants seek to explore how to analytically associate medial discourse with social practices. What are ways of handling the category ‘modernity’ in Africa – does emphasizing the view of the actors offer a prolific approach? Does it change our view of political processes in Twentieth Century Africa to follow those questions across historical caesuras like the Second World War or political independence into the history of the young postcolonial states? Does an approach like that emphasize political breaks, or does it blur the lines between them?

We welcome contributions from scholars of all disciplines working on late colonial and postcolonial Africa.

Possible topics include:

Consumer behavior and politics of consumption in (post-)colonial settings

Advertising and marketing in African societies

Press and (popular) media: newspapers, magazines, radio, cinema

New elites: cultures, discourses, places of sociability and social life; construction of gender roles, identity formation and visions of life

Urban places/spaces of public life and emerging urban popular culture: associations, leisure activities, clubs, cinema, sports

The workshop takes the form of an extensive discussion based on papers which will be sent by the organizers to all participants beforehand. The speakers – organized in panels – will present their paper’s central points in a 10-minutes lecture followed up by a commentary and a discussion.

We invite scholars interested in presenting a paper at the workshop to send a 300-word abstract and a short biographical sketch to

african.modernity@sfb-repraesentationen.de

by 7th July 2010. Papers for the presentation must be submitted to the same email address by 31st October 2010.

The workshop will be held in English and French; however, we ask for abstracts to be in English only.

There are funds available to cover transport and accommodation for most participants. We seek to secure additional funding.

Contact information:

Regina Finsterhölzl / Daniel Tödt

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Sonderforschungsbereich 640 / Teilprojekt B2
Unter den Linden 6
D-10099 Berlin
Germany

regina.finsterhoelzl@staff.hu-berlin.de
daniel.toedt@staff.hu-berlin.de

Tel: +49-(0)30-2093-4984
Fax: +49-(0)30-2093-4893

URL:
http://www.sfb-repraesentationen.de/veranstaltungen/tagungen-und-workshops/elite-formation/

Africa CFP : Gender, Material Culture, and Cultural Diplomacy

No Responses »

Jun 172010

African textile pattern

[Photo credit: shaire productions under a Creative Commons license]

The following call for papers may be of interest to African scholars already in Canada. Please apply directly as requested in the advert before June 30 2010.

October 7-9, 2010

University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

The interdisciplinary conference “Gender, Material Culture, and Cultural Diplomacy” offers a forum to analyze, document, and exhibit intersecting imageries, functions, and representations of material culture and its connection to cultural diplomacy in Africa. It interrogates the production, circulation, consumption, and appropriation of material objects and artefacts, such as beads, pottery, and cloth, and their multiple and gendered meanings in changing social, economic and political contexts. Cloth, for instance, from cotton production, ethical consumption and fair trade exigencies, fashion, and cultural diplomacy bears multiple resonances and symbolic meanings in identity politics, power and social relations, trade, and economic exchanges. As a fetishized and iconic symbol of identity, a medium of cultural diplomacy, a commodity in the global economy, a symbolic object of exchange, memory and ritual, and a museum artefact, cloth conveys symbolic, mercantile meanings and social functions, which are both stable and remarkably fluid in different, often conflicting, socio- cultural, political, and economic spheres.

This conference invites a critical and reflexive engagement with material culture and cultural diplomacy—the symbolic, functional, instrumental, and transactional use of material objects as symbols of protest, resistance, negotiation, identity, memory, power, and agency. It will address a series of interrelated questions such as: What are the roles of various actors— artisans, feminists, activists, artists, scholars, producers, and traders—in constructing, deconstructing, appropriating, embodying, and visualizing material culture? To what extent do the production and circulation of material objects signify, reify, or transform social relations, identities, labour relations, and social hierarchies? What tensions and convergences do such material objects mobilize as a medium of cultural diplomacy, peace building, political protest and feminist praxis, economic production, consumption, and trade?

We invite papers and proposals with a theoretical focus on material culture embodied in cloth, pottery, or beads in Africa. Comparative analytics and performative methodologies are welcomed. Artists, artisans and activists are strongly encouraged to participate.

Please submit a 300 word abstract and short bio before June 30, 2010 to: marieme.lo@utoronto.ca

Notification of Acceptance: July 15, 2010. Deadline for full paper submission: September 15, 2010. Selected papers will be published.

Suggested Books (US)

Other African anthropology books

Suggested Books (UK)

Other African anthropology books

Older Entries

Conference : The past and its possibilities - perspectives of Southern Africa, June 2011