International Conference
Walking Art and Relational Geographies | Girona-Olot-Vic (Catalonia, Spain), July 7-11, 2020.
Open Call: Papers and creative proposals. Deadline [EXTENDED]: May 10th, 2020
CANCELLED! Due to the pandemic crisis, the Conference in July 2020 is cancelled. The partners are currently evaluating the possibility of postponing the event to a later date.
For further information please contact: artdelcaminar@gmail.com
Concept and General Coordination: Herman Bashiron Mendolicchio and Clara Garí
Organised in collaboration with: The University of Girona (Chair for Geography and Territorial Thought); Bòlit Centre d’Art Contemporani de Girona; Contemporary Art Center Nau Côclea; The Landscape Observatory of Catalonia; Olot City Hall; University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia; Deriva Mussol and the Contemporary Art Center AcVic.
We invite you to submit papers and creative proposals for the International Encounter and Conference "Walking Art and Relational Geographies" that will take place in Girona, Olot and Vic from the 7th to the 11th of July 2020.
As the instinctive essence and principle of human movement, the practice of walkingtoday fosters enriching and complex interactions between territories, cultures, creativity, communities, thought and public space. Walking becomes - or rather returns to be - an urgent and necessary perspective through which to look, analyse and understand the contemporary world.
Walking as a philosophy and a reflection, walking as an awareness of the emergence and demands of sustainability, walking as the beginning of the journey and as the endless experience of knowledge and discovery. Walking as a point of contact between the I and the other, as a tool for relations between people and territories in their transformational processes. Walking as an artistic practice.
These lines and paths point to a field of action and analysis crossing through many practical and conceptual territories –where culture, art, anthropology, geography, education and ecology intertwine- requiring urgent exploration.
The international meeting "Walking Art and Relational Geographies" aims to create a dialogue between theory and practice, where walking becomes an instrument of territorial connection, a mapping tool and a format of creative expression. A meeting point of debate, experience and reflection, "Walking Art and Relational Geographies" will focus mainly on the analysis of the increasingly mediated relationship between people and geographies.
Open Call
We invite thinkers, writers, curators, geographers, artists and creators interested in walking practices and in their different creative, educational, artistic and eco-territorial aspects. Both papers and art projects (actions, workshops and proposals for participation) are welcome to be submitted. The official language of the encounter is English. Proposals can also be sent in Spanish and Catalan.
We accept proposals that consider one or several of the following subjects, among others:
- Walking as a cartographic instrument.
- Distances and proximity. Walking as a measure of knowledge.
- Walking between urban and rural spaces.
- Walking art and landscape
- Walking art and communities.
- Maps, perimeters, boundaries and borders.
- The walk as an artistic exploration.
- Walking art and the activation of public space.
- Territorial relationships, ecologies and sustainability.
- Walking as a collaborative practice.
- Walking performativity: bodies and geographies.
- Psycho-geography and contemporary art.
- Walking art, education, and learning practices.
Papers
15-minute paper presentations - The proposal will have to include the following documentation, which must be submitted by May 10, 2020:
- A summary of up to 300 words.
- A short biography of the authors of the paper (maximum 150 words).
- Name, address, telephone and email of the contact person. Please include your website, if any.
Creative proposals
Art projects, participatory actions and creative workshops related to walking art will take place during the days of the encounter/conference. Proposals for a creative action, workshop or performance must include the following documentation, to be submitted by May 10, 2020:
- A short description of the workshop, action or performance accompanied by an image (up to five images).
- It is compulsory to indicate the duration of the activity, preferable time of day, the required space and maximum number of participants.
- Name, address, telephone and email of the contact person. Please include your website, if any.
Proposals (papers and art projects) are to be submitted by May 10, 2020, by email to: artdelcaminar@gmail.com
We will respond with a confirmation message if your proposal has been received correctly. If you have not received a confirmation message 5 days after sending your proposal, please contact us again by email.
Selected proposals in both categories will be notified by email on May 31, 2020.