Call for Papers: Seventh Annual Symposium of Latin American Art

Symposium Dates: March 30-April 1, 2023

The Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, Columbia University in the City of New York, and the Institute for Studies on Latin American Art (ISLAA) are pleased to announce the Seventh Annual Symposium of Latin American Art. “Making Space, Making Place: Marking the Americas” will be held on March 30, 31, and April 1, 2023. The Symposium will include keynote presentations by Dr. Adriana Zavala of Tufts University and Dr. Delia Cosentino of DePaul University (further details to be announced in January 2023).

The Seventh Annual Symposium of Latin American Art invites proposals from artists, activists, graduate students, and emerging scholars considering place-making, maps, and geography in the study of the art and culture of the Americas. The Symposium considers how marking practices interact with place and space-making strategies broadly construed—maps, cartographic renditions of place, earth and land art, urban planning, architecture and landscape, and more. By prioritizing space, place, and geography, the Symposium invites engagement with and critique of how marking practices have shaped our understanding of the Americas. 

Artists, activists, graduate students, and emerging scholars are invited to apply, especially those based in Latin America and the Caribbean. Topics from all historical periods of Latin American / Latinx / Chicanx / and Caribbean art (e.g. Ancient or "Pre-Columbian," Colonial, Modern, Contemporary), as well as fields outside the realm of art history, but grounded in visual material (e.g. Cinema and Media Studies, Latin American and Latinx Studies, Visual Culture) are highly encouraged. Abstracts will be accepted in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. 

The Symposium will be held in-person. Further logistical details will be released to confirmed participants as soon as possible.

Possible themes include but are not limited to:

The drawing of maps, borders, and boundaries

Migration and diasporic experience

Urban planning

Eco-art history

Networks of exchange and trade within the Americas and across the Atlantic and Pacific

Coastal art practices versus non-coastal or interior art practices; bicoastal art strategies

Archipelagic models

The intersection between geography, natural history, and visual practice

Interactions between architecture and the environment

“Earthly” materials in art-making practices like organic pigment, colored earth, etc.

Photography of the environment or urban settings

Subjective maps

Considerations of the body in space or in relation to place

To apply, please submit an abstract of up to 300 words and an abbreviated CV to 2023latinamericansymposium@gmail.com by Monday, January 9. Applicants will be notified of their acceptance by Friday, January 27. Presentations will be limited to 20 minutes, with additional time for discussion. The Symposium Committee invites participation from graduate students and emerging scholars across the globe. In your application, please indicate your current institutional affiliation as well as the languages you speak.

This Symposium is generously funded by the Institute for Studies on Latin American Art (ISLAA), the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures, the Institute for Latin American Studies, and the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University. It is coordinated by Professors Edward J. Sullivan, Helen Gould Sheppard Professor in the History of Art at the Institute of Fine Arts; Lisa Trever, Lisa and Bernard Selz Associate Professor in Pre-Columbian Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University; Jerónimo Duarte-Riascos, Assistant Professor of Latin American and Iberian Cultures; and Alexander Alberro, Virginia Bloedel Wright Professor of Art History at Barnard College and Columbia University. The Symposium is organized by current Ph.D. students Corey Loftus, Eric Mazariegos, and Rebecca Yuste, and M.A. student Tatiana Marcel.

For further information or with any questions, please contact 2023latinamericansymposium@gmail.com