[artinfo] Call for papers: Motherhood and creative practice

[Elena Marcevska]

Call for papers

The call for papers submission deadline has been extended to 4 March 2015. 


Motherhood and creative practice: 

Maternal structures in creative work
June 1-2, 2015

Confirmed Key Note Speakers:

Professor Bracha L. Ettinger Marcel Duchamp Chair 
and Professor of Psychoanalysis and Art at the 
European Graduate School

Professor Mary Kelly Distinguished Professor and 
Head of the Interdisciplinary Studio Area in the 
Department of Art at UCLA
Professor Faith Wilding Professor Emerita of 
Performance at SAIC; and a Visiting Scholar at 
the Pembroke Center for Feminist Research at 
Brown University, Providence, RI

Conference Discussant:

Professor Griselda Pollock , Director of Centre 
for Cultural Analysis, Theory, History, 
University of Leeds, UK

Motherhood and creative practice: Maternal 
structures in creative work is an international 
and interdisciplinary conference that addresses 
ongoing debates about hospitality, solidarity and 
encounter as concepts in creative practice, and 
how they relate to contemporary issues of 
mothering. Mothering involves commitment to 
creative balance and combining everyday chores. 
We are interested how practitioners combine art 
and mothering, activism and mothering, academia 
and mothering, science and mothering, mothering 
and allomothering. The conference will look at 
practice where the creative exploration, writing 
and theory about the mOther cannot be separated 
from one another. Ettinger reveals the intricate 
connections between critical theory on maternal 
and creative practice. According to Vigneault, 
the porous spaces of work that engages with the 
maternal as concept presents passageways which 
allow the viewer and reader to move through and 
between the various levels of text and image, 
theory and art, in a constant shift between modes 
of production (2009:69). There is a gradual, yet 
sustained increase in creative practice which, 
starting from the challenges posed by the above 
concepts, explore the maternal in various 
encounter-event formations. The conference will 
also look into female experiences and sexual 
lifestyles that explore the encounters of 
infertility, medical intervention, adoption and 
fostering, queer mothering and childlessness by 
choice or not. We invite scholars and artists to 
also explore the creative embodiment of 
intergenerational trauma and the complex 
territory of mother-daughter relationships, and 
bring into dialogue social, scientific and 
artistic perspectives.

The conference will also encompass the 
exhibition "Alternative Maternals"curated by 
Laura Gonzalez, a curated performance section led 
by Faith Wilding's performative reading of her 
memoirs, and a post-graduate discussion room. The 
post-graduate room will be enriched with 
performative texts, films, visual and audio works 
(we strongly encourage postgraduate students to 
send proposals and abstracts).

This conference aims to reflect on theoretical, 
methodological and artistic work that may throw 
light on motherhood and creative practice. We 
welcome submissions from scholars, students, 
artists, mothers and others who research in this 
area. Cross-cultural, interdisciplinary and 
comparative work is encouraged. We are open to a 
variety of submissions including academic papers 
from all disciplines and creative submissions 
including visual art, literature, and performance 
art/performative lectures. We invite papers in 
English of 15 minutes length, with possible 
topics including but are not restricted to the 
above description. We welcome abstracts and 
proposals for practice-based, creative 
presentations (300 - 400 words + up to 3 images 
for practical presentations+ 100 word bio) on a 
broad range of approaches to the above and 
related topics.

Abstract and Proposals are to be submitted no 
later than March 4th, 2015, to Dr Elena 
Marchevska using the following 
email: <mailto:marcheve at lsbu.ac.uk>marcheve at lsbu.ac.uk. 
 Proposers will be informed by 6 March 2015 
whether their proposal has been accepted.

Conference Registration

A full registration fee includes morning and 
afternoon break refreshments, two lunches, free 
entry to exhibition and performances and 
conference reception event.

Registration for conference will open online on 20 February 2015.

Full Conference Early Bird (by 1 May) £120.00

Full Conference £180.00

Full Conference Postgraduate/Unwaged £65.00

Day Rate Monday 1st June only £80.00

Note: The conference organisers are please to 
confirm that the London South Bank University 
crèche will be able to offer childcare facilities 
on campus throughout the conference. In order to 
ensure that they can cater to the needs of 
participants and their children, the crèche 
require all parents/guardians who are interested 
in using this service to send email 
request to <mailto:marcheve%40lsbu.ac.uk>marcheve at lsbu.ac.uk before 
5 March 2015. 


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