[ecrea] CFP: From Floor to Ceiling: A symposium on South Asian floor-drawings and murals

: Aurogeeta Das <(southasiansymposia /at/ gmail.com)>

Subject: CFP: From Floor to Ceiling: A symposium on South Asian 
floor-drawings and murals

From Floor to Ceiling:
A symposium on South Asian murals and floor-drawings
26 October 2013
University of Westminster, London

CALL FOR PAPERS

CREAM and SAAG are delighted to be joining forces to run the above 
symposium in 2013. The purpose of this event is to spark debate and 
encourage collaboration and exchange on the vast but, thus far, 
under-researched area of South Asian mural and floor-drawing traditions 
and their contemporary manifestations.

As Anna L. Dallapicola has pointed out in Indian Painting: The Lesser 
Known Traditions (2011), until not very long ago, scholarship in the 
West has largely focused on the courtly arts of India, especially the 
Mughal, Deccani, Rajasthani and Pahari painting traditions. Yet, there 
are rich and vibrant vernacular arts that unfold in the domestic 
context. Many of these arts, assigned to the category of ‘folk’ or 
‘tribal’ arts, take place on walls, floors and ceilings. Frequently, 
these spaces ensure that the art remains ephemeral, thus rendering 
documentation and study all the more problematic, notwithstanding the 
fact that as a part of social rituals, such practices continue to be 
located on the margins of academic enquiry. Although this is not always 
the case, in many instances, mural and floor-drawing traditions are 
closely interlinked, and the relationship between the two may also be 
pertinent.

As the makers rarely call themselves artists, issues may be raised about 
the validity of approaches which argue that such practices should be 
regarded as art. We are keen to encourage such debate, as international 
scholarship in this area is nascent, and such discussion will help 
formulate more informed ideas. The ephemerality of these traditions also 
warrants a closer scrutiny of the materials used – their durability, or 
lack of it – and issues of heritage, preservation and conservation. 
Other concerns may touch upon the transitions of such arts from the 
domestic context to public spaces, or from amateur makers to 
professional artists, where oftentimes the purpose of the activity is 
radically changed, and where the ephemeral becomes permanent for the 
purpose of a market.

We propose to extend the geographical scope of this event beyond India, 
to encompass South Asia. In order to accommodate a wide range of papers, 
we apply a broad definition of the term South Asia, to include the 
following countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, 
Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Tibet. This area of 
research lends itself to diverse approaches, including anthropological 
and ethnographic perspectives, art historical interpretations, aesthetic 
views, practitioner-based narratives that may focus on the creative 
process, gendered accounts and material culture studies. This symposium 
proposes to bring out the varied approaches that may be adopted in the 
study of murals and floor-drawings. Although we will focus on arts in 
the domestic context, we will consider papers that discuss mural and 
floor-drawing traditions in temples and palaces, where such traditions 
mark sacraments of life or otherwise involve the everyday life of 
ordinary people (i.e. not priests or royals). There has recently been a 
growing awareness of the lesser-known traditions, to use Dallapiccola’s 
phrase. From Floor to Ceiling hopes to contribute to such interests by 
foregrounding the variety of arts in domestic spaces in South Asia.

We additionally welcome contributions in the form of videos on 
floor-drawings. These can be ethnographic films or videos that capture 
contemporary shifts in practice.

Please submit abstracts of 200 words along with a brief bio-note (no 
more than 4 lines), by 1 June 2013. Those who wish to contribute films 
should indicate this at the end of their abstract and include a title, 
format, and length of the video.

Abstracts need to be emailed to Aurogeeta Das and Daniel Rycroft at the 
address below:
southasiansymposia[at]gmail.com

Please circulate to anyone you think may be interested in contributing 
or disseminating further. Apologies for cross-posting.

* Participants will need to meet their own travel, accommodation and 
subsistence costs.

Dr. Aurogeeta Das
CREAM Visiting Research Fellow
School of Media, Art & Design
University of Westminster
Harrow Campus, Watford Road
Middlesex HA1 3TP

Dr. Daniel Rycroft
Co-Founder of SAAG
School of Art History and World Art Studies
Sainsbury Institute for Art
University of East Anglia
Norwich Research Park
Norwich NR4 7TJ

Centre for Research and Education in Art & Media (CREAM), University of 
Westminster
CREAM has a portfolio of research across the disciplines of visual arts, 
ceramics, photography, film, experimental media, music and fashion. 
CREAM has been a key participant in debates on practice-based research 
in audio-visual media and was a founding member of the AHRC-funded 
initiative, AVPhD. CREAM runs a lively programme of seminars and 
visiting speakers, and has organised ground-breaking conferences and 
symposia in collaboration with other institutions. These include The 
Making of a Modern Indian Artist-Craftsman: Devi Prasad (book launch, 
talk and conversation); Indian Arts on Film (seminar and screenings); 
Forgotten Era: Parsi Theatre and Early Indian Cinema (talk and 
discussion); Bhopali (film screening and discussion); and Evolving 
African Film Cultures: Local and Global Experiences (a conference).

South Asian Arts Group (SAAG)
SAAG is an informal network of academics, curators, artists and arts 
professionals, who share an interest in the arts and visual/material 
cultures of South Asia and the diaspora. SAAG provides a space for 
interaction, conversation and exchange for people interested in South 
Asian arts in the UK. Through an annual gathering – held at a different 
location in the UK each year – participants of SAAG will foster 
contacts, partnerships and friendships with a view to building 
interactions across different disciplines and approaches to South Asian 
arts.




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