[Commlist] CFP Glocal Street Art

"Glocal Street Art. Places, Identities, Narratives" International 
Symposium. The University of Rennes 2 (France) will hold the 
international symposium on February 24, 25 and 26, 2022. A special 
session for young scholars will take place on February 24. We invite 
proposals for paper presentations in English or French (duration: 20 
minutes). No payment from the authors will be required.
Unauthorized works of art in the public space are often ephemeral and 
changing. The transience of such works is primarily the consequence of 
their underground nature, exposing them to be torn apart or removed by 
the legal owners of the space. The transient character of this art is 
also related to its exposure to passers-by and to harsh weather 
conditions, causing peeling and fading. While most works are created for 
a given location and can then be considered site-specific, their 
photographic images–spread widely on the Internet or social media by 
artists and aficionados–are off-site. This phenomenon has benefited from 
fast-developing virtual data storage (blogs, websites and social me-dia) 
and the continuing evolution of camera technology in smartphones. It is 
certainly reinforced by the drive for conservation and the sense of 
heritage which both characterize contemporaneity, as Jean Michel Tobelem 
claimed when he noted that the growth of museums is a “major trait of 
our times”. Yet, the pictures of the works are not the works and that is 
even truer in the case of street art, which is characterized by its 
transient, fragile nature. The way pictures of street art are stored in 
new virtual museums is thus problematic. The simple act of framing a 
work which is essentially site specif-ic, made for (and by) the street, 
limits its performative dimension and hinders the sensory experience of 
the user. The paradox lies in this duality: the photographs of the works 
are shared on a global scale whereas the art itself has a strictly local 
existence. Street art seems to have multiple conditions of existence and 
visibility: virtual and concrete, global and local, ephemeral (in its 
real location) and durable (online). This duality gives street art its 
unique character. Characterized by such multiplicity, street art has 
created what Maxime Szczepanski calls “a type of site-specific space 
best referred to as ‘glocal’ as it combines local and global aspects”. 
Indeed, the situation of street art also raises questions. The term 
‘street art’ is still being debated, whether in relation to other genres 
such as graffiti and urban art, or for the questioning of its urban 
location as some pieces can be found in the countryside. Some works are 
repeated so as to create series (stencils, stickers or other media meant 
to be reproduced) or are conceived for exportation to another site or 
for virtual promotion. The use made in street art of a universal, verbal 
or iconic lan-guage and the predominance of English testify to a global 
intent. Accordingly, stories about street artists rising to fame 
generally describe a career path in two parts: first, the detailed 
exploration of their hometowns and then, the extension of their work to 
capital cities around the world. Success for street artists is generally 
associated with the relocation and/or globalization of their art, 
applied to large urban centers that are extremely varied in terms of 
culture and topography. Uncensored art in the street thus primarily 
questions the relation to space, the place it is attached to and the 
sites where it is seen. Does its meaning change according to its 
conditions of visibility? What stories do these new forms of 
contemporary art tell? Can cultural identities develop at spatial 
crossroads of diverse dimen-sions? Can a piece of street art be 
relocated, exported or reproduced to another site without altering its 
significance?
The University of Rennes 2 will hold an international symposium intended 
to explore these issues on February 24, 25 and 26, 2022. A special 
session for young scholars will take place on February 24. We invite 
proposals for paper presentations in English or French (duration: 20 
minutes).
Save the Dates!
By April 25, 2021: submit an abstract in English or French (1000-1500 
signs) either for the special session for young scholars or for the 
symposium, a short profile and key words (5 maximum). By January 28, 
2022: submit a written summary of your presentation in English or French 
(2000-3000 signs) February 24, 2022: session for young scholars, 
Université Rennes 2
February 25-26, 2022: international symposium, Université Rennes 2
By March 25, 2022: submit your written paper in English or French 
(30.000-50.000 signs)  Contact : Juliette Le Gall 
(juliette.legall188 /at/ gmail.com) Link: 
https://sites-recherche.univ-rennes2.fr/cellam/appels-a-contributions/

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