CHAT 2017 — Heritage, Memory, Art, and Agency, University of Amsterdam, November 3–5, 2017
CHAT 2017 — Heritage, Memory, Art, and Agency - 3rd - 5th November 2017, will explore the relationship between contemporary and historical archaeology and cultural memory narratives. We will take an interdisciplinary approach to artefacts and people, examining the agency of art, and how humans, material culture, and non-human actors interact to form identities, and to create, perpetuate, and or challenge social hierarchies, taboos, and a sense of place.
Located within a UNESCO World Heritage site— the 17th century canal ring— the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is the perfect location to discuss the relationship between past and present, especially regarding heritage’s impact on the lived experience and how and in what ways archaeological research impacts society.
We welcome papers discussing ethics, responsibility and professionalism in archaeology, memory and heritage politics, transmission and engagement with art and cultural heritage, and any other themes that help us explore how heritage, art, memory and agency impact societal actualities as well as how archaeological research can be a force for societal change.
The workshop invites abstracts (250 words max) that respond to these scientifically and politically urgent questions from junior and senior academics. Research areas include, but are not limited to:
- Images of war and conflict; photography, painting, destruction, displaced people
- Architecture and memory
- The politics of remembrance and identity
- Archaeologies of heritage dynamics; daily life, performance
- Counter-cultures; street art, music, fashion
- Heritage and digital culture
- Collections and collectors
- Heritage, tourism, and representations of place
- Photography; aesthetics, automatism, agency
- Postcolonial heritage and memory
- Contemporary art and culture; hybridity and ambivalence
- Urban archaeology and public space
We welcome proposals for papers, posters, films and installations that respond to the conference theme and follow the above or alternative lines of enquiry. As always, proposals from disciplines outside archaeology are welcomed.