CFP: Critical Costume (Helsinki, 25-27 March 2015)

[Justine De Young]

Helsinki, Finland, March 25 - 27, 2015
Deadline: Oct 20, 2014

Critical Costume 2015
An international conference and exhibition of costume

25-27 March 2015, Helsinki, Finland

Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture

What does it mean to study costume in the 21st century?

Early theoretical discourse on costume (Hollander 1975/1993; Wilson
1985/2013; Gaines 1990) underlines the active interrelation between
costume, body and character by arguing that "costume assimilates bodily
signifiers into character, but body as a whole engulfs the dress"
(Gaines 1990: 193).

In the 21st century, costume practices are now encountered through a
multitude of different media: from film and theatre to virtual
environments and mediated platforms. Mediation has become a prevalent
principle of contemporary life and culture. Yet, the role of the
costumed body and of how bodily practices are 'read' within and
explored through these contexts remains a central question of 21st
century artistic scholarship and practice.

Costume is still a relatively new and emerging research area. However,
the study of costume has significantly grown in profile in recent years
as a subject worthy of focused academic study, as evident within the
growing number of international scholarly publications on costume and
the costumed body in the last decade. Most recently, special issues of
academic journals, such as Canadian Theatre Review (2012) and Scene
(2014, forthcoming), have addressed the agency of costume in live
performance as well as in film and other media. In that regard,
Critical Costume 2015 is the second event conceived under the banner of
Critical Costume, following a research project initiated by Dr. Rachel
Hann and Sidsel Bech at Edge Hill University (UK) in 2013 (see
www.criticalcostume.com). The overall aim of the Critical Costume
events is to offer a platform for new academic thinking and design
practices around the study of costume: with costume conceived as a
means of critically interrogating the body in/as performance.

Therefore, Critical Costume 2015 invites contributions from scholars
and practitioners that seek to address the implications of research
processes, new technologies and media for the study and practice of
costuming today and in history.

While we welcome all proposals on the subject of costume,Critical
Costume 2015 is particularly interested in contributions from
practitioners and scholars that investigate the following:

a) Methodologies for researching costume in live performance, film and
media: this includes practice-based approaches, new technologies as a
tool for costume research, as well as historical, sociological,
ethnographic, anthropological or other cultural perspectives in
studying costume practices.

b) Media and mediated costume, and new design practices: costume in
media and media in costume; these include digital costume, wearable
technology, interactivity, latest technology and special effects, and
the dramaturgical implications of interpreting screen-mediated or
projected costume.

c) Costume practices and performances that examine the performative
qualities of material (whether physical or virtual), body, flesh, and
design.

The event includes
- an exhibition of artistic work and artistic research,
- a conference comprised of academic presentations on current research
in the field of costume and performance,
- Flash Talks - short presentations by artists, and
- film and media screenings.

In that regard, we invite all interested parties to submit their
proposals stating which presentation format you wish to be considered
for:
- 20min paper presentation (title and 300-word abstract)
- Flash Talk presentations (title and 200-word summary)
- Exhibition or Installation work – physical or mediated object (title
and 200-word description)

Note: We welcome applications to present in more than one format.

The event language is English.

Deadline for the submission of proposals: 20 October 2014

Notification of acceptance: 25 November 2014

Please submit your proposals online at
http://costumeinfocus.com or at
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1kBlaVFF3bKwr8akRKJxiC_Sz3ZAbOGHfOHBnjzpSNO8/viewform?c=0&w=1

Critical Costume 2015 is curated by Professor Sofia Pantouvaki and
hosted by the Costume in Focus research group, based at Aalto
University School of Arts, Design and Architecture.