Call for Papers
Charged Circuits: Questioning International Exhibition Practices
Graduate Symposium
Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
March 14-15, 2008
Deadline for paper proposals extended to: January 25, 2008
Graduate students from all disciplines, including art history, visual arts,
curatorial and museum studies, communications, film studies, cultural
studies and history, are invited to propose papers for Charged Circuits:
Questioning International Exhibition Practices. This two-day symposium seeks
to critically assess the recent proliferation of international exhibitions
and their growing influence on the discipline of art history. What are the
implications of this expanding transnational exhibition practice? Is this
practice really the reflection of a “new internationalism”? Which artists
and curators are privileged within the global exhibition circuit, and why?
What are the power dynamics between global economy and local communities?
What part does nationalism play within transnational exhibitions? And in
what way have international exhibitions affected how art history is written
today?

Broad possible topics could include:
• the relationship between art practice and globalization;
• contemporary art biennials as the new art history;
• national representation within international exhibitions;
• the ³internationalism² of transnational exhibitions;
• international exhibitions as a utopian project;
• economic and social effects of biennials;
• cultural tourism and international exhibitions;
• the experience and/or role of the artist within the international
exhibition system;
• the role of the curator within the international exhibition system;
• the evolution of global exhibitions from the 19th century to today.
Keynote Speaker: Doryun Chong is the Assistant Curator of Visual Arts at the
Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Chong completed his doctoral studies at
the University of California at Berkeley in Art History, and has organized a
number of international exhibitions including Brave New Worlds (2007) at the
Walker Art Center, and Time After Time: Asia of Our Moment (2003) at the
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. Chong is an active curator
on the international art circuit, notably organizing the Korean Pavilion at
the 2001 Venice Biennale, and co-curating the Busan Biennale in 2006.
What to Submit
• A 300-word abstract (papers may be presented in English or French)
• 150-200-word biographical note
• Contact information (university affiliation, complete mailing
address, email)
Deadline Has Been Extended To:
• January 25, 2008 (Applicants who are accepted will be notified by
February 1, 2008)
Where
Please email or send paper proposals to:
Tatiana Mellema and Jacqueline Sischy
Art History Graduate Students Association (AHGSA)
Concordia University
1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, EV 3.784
Montreal. QC H3G 1M8
ahconf@gmail.com <mailto:ahconf@gmail.com
This symposium is supported by: Concordia University¹s Department of Art
History and Art History Graduate Students Association.