[Commlist] Borderlines VII: Performing through the Unknown Conference

/Borderlines VII: Performing through the Unknown, /the seventh annual 
interdisciplinary conference on performance hosted by De Montfort 
University's the Drama Research Group and the Centre for 
Interdisciplinary Research in Dance (CIRID), is scheduled to take place 
on Thursday 20^th June 2019.  Sarah Gorman, Reader in the Department of 
Drama, Theatre & Performance at Roehampton University, London,will be 
our keynote speaker for the conference (see further details below).

Moving on from last year’s exploration of different modalities of fear, 
this year’s conference investigates art and performance's potential to 
engage with and question the aftermath of acts and events inducing fear. 
We consider this in relation to historical and numerous recent political 
events whose consequences have been anticipated and marked by 
expressions of fear, including the aftermath of: Britain’s vote to leave 
the EU, experiences articulated in connection with the #MeToo movement, 
and the increasing global rise of populist, anti-democratic governments. 
We propose this condition of aftermath as a transitional state of the 
unknown and unknowable with blurred and ruptured borders that could lead 
to an escalation of fear and a loss of trust, or which could be filled 
with potential, enabling a process of taking stock, discovery, protest 
and re-politicisation.

In her 1992 Oxford Amnesty Lecture, ‘We Who Are Free, Are We Free?’, 
Hélène Cixous queries ‘who still wants to save the freedom of 
/language/?’ (1993: 215; emphasis in original). Cixous emphasises the 
freedom of artistic modes of expression that embrace risk and 
complexity. She advocates for the writer or artist ‘getting lost’ and 
pursuing ‘free-writings’ that:

follow neither road nor line… make mistakes, correct themselves, repent, 
leap, sweep down between the lines like gulls, there is a dry, violent 
wind blowing on this land, oh yes, they cut our moorings at once, they 
are an invitation to the flood. Come, they say, sink with me and I will 
resuscitate you. (1993: 216-217)

Yet, how possible is such creative immersion in the flood when faced 
with the persistent hum of political uncertainty and fake news, 
institutionalised anxiety and exploitation, anticipated violence or a 
traumatic aftermath? We invite explorations of performance that debate 
whether to adhere to or reassert the borderlines or to take the plunge 
and cross this cliff edge of the unknown.

Proposals are invited for papers, performances, work demonstrations, 
artist talks and provocations. Possible areas for consideration might 
include, but are not limited to:

Creative practices, processes or performances that critically engage with:

·The aftermath of historical events, experiences or practices that 
induced fear

·The uncertain or traumatic aftermath of recent events, which may 
include: Britain’s vote to leave the EU, experiences articulated in 
connection with the #MeToo movement, and the increasing global rise of 
populist, anti-democratic governments

·Anxieties surrounding representations of gender or sexuality that 
appear unknown and unknowable

·Anxieties surrounding uncertain cultural borders or places of ‘home’

·Toxic fears that may include racism, xenophobia, hate crimes, 
misogynist behaviours, incel positions, class slurs, ableist laws

·Institutionalised anxiety and exploitation

·Anticipating new beginnings with apprehension or hope

·Uncertain transitional moments and blurred borders as a chance to take 
stock or power, to re-politicise and protest

·Fearless or joyous exploration of the unknown and risk

·Facilitating communities or individuals through the unknown

·Supporting the audience to experience or participate in the unknown

·Immersion in the unknown through use of text, image, sound, space, 
bodies or technologies

·Risky ventures that explode disciplinary or artistic borderlines

Proposals of 250 words, a 100-word biography, and a list of resources / 
technical needs should be sent to Alissa Clarke ((a.clarke /at/ dmu.ac.uk)) by 
the 18^th April 2019. Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by 
the 1^st of May 2019.

*//*

*/Borderlines ​/**Postgraduate Panel Submissions **2019*

Continuing on from the success of previous /Borderlines/ 
postgraduate-led panels, we are welcoming postgraduate researchers who 
may alternatively wish to submit proposals for 10 minute papers or 
performative presentations. This panel offers students the opportunity 
to present their research in a peer-led environment whilst still 
contributing to and engaging with the breadth of the conference programme.

Proposals should include the title and format of the presentation, a 200 
word abstract, a list of resources / technical needs and a brief 
biographical statement. Proposals should be sent to Alissa Clarke 
((a.clarke /at/ dmu.ac.uk)) by the 18^th of April 2019. Notifications of 
acceptance will be sent out by the 1^st of May 2019.

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