Call for Proposals
The Art of Shigeyuki Kihara: A Research Symposium
The University of Otago
Saturday 4 May 2013
The recent award of the Wallace Arts Trust Paramount Award and a New Generation Award from the Arts Foundation signals Shigeyuki Kihara’s growing recognition as a significant international artist, whose dynamic career includes, amongst others: a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2008); performances staged at such leading institutions as the Musée du Quai Branly, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand; and works featured in the Asia Pacific Triennial, Auckland Triennial and the upcoming Sakahan Quinquennial held at the National Gallery of Canada in May 2013.
Of Samoan and Japanese heritage, Kihara interrogates the ways that art, performance, and the public interact and prompt dialogue about understanding the complexities of humanity. Her oeuvre includes photographs, dance performance, video installations, and interactive community performances. Kihara’s work comments on issues such as colonialism, European representations of indigenous peoples, gender, globalization, sexual minorities in the Pacific, and tourism.
In order to stimulate original research into the work of Shigeyuki Kihara, a public symposium will be held at the University of Otago on Saturday 4 May. Sponsored by the Cultures, Histories and Identities in Film, Media and Literature Research Network of the University of Otago, this symposium coincides with a mid-career survey exhibition that will be held at the Hocken Collections (20 April to 8 June 2013).
This symposium will broadly interrogate Kihara’s creative work, artistic development, and the critical issues that it raises from diverse disciplinary perspectives. A key outcome of this symposium will be the publication of an edited, peer-reviewed quality-assured volume about Kihara’s broad body of work. Participation in the symposium will enable the volume’s authors to develop their ideas in critical dialogue with each other. Presentations selected for inclusion in the volume will be required to submit their completed manuscripts for review by 1 August 2013.
If you are interested in contributing to this symposium, please send a proposal (up to 300 words) and a 100-word biography. Your proposal should elaborate your research topic and clarify distinctive aspects of your disciplinary or methodological approach. In developing your proposal, keep in mind that both the symposium and the planned publication are being developed with the intention of attracting a diverse audience that encompasses academia, the New Zealand art world, the general public, and the Pacific community.
Proposals are due on 1 March in order to complete selection of participants by 10 March. Please send your proposals and any queries to: [email protected]
Deadline for Proposals: 1 March 2013
