Important info about the conference

All is going to plan for an exciting event! However, due to unforeseen circumstances, Mary Kelly has to leave London just before our conference. But she has gone out of her way to still find a way to be ‘present’ with us and so we are holding a live discussion with her about her work at the Pippy Houldsworth Gallery (http://www.houldsworth.co.uk/) on Wed 27 May 2015, 6pm. Do come along if you are in London then but let us know in advance because the gallery is small and seating limited, so it is strictly first come first served. However, you can also take part live if you cannot make it to London, as we will stream the event live and you will be able to tweet questions for Mary during the discussion. If you want to join in either in London or online, please let us know. We will also screen this discussion with Mary in place of her keynote, so you won’t miss it, and hold a discussion chaired, led and introduced by Lisa Baraitser.

 

The company booked to run the crèche has sadly let us know that they cannot run it on the low numbers of people interested. However, children are welcome to come to the conference. Please send me their ages and we will have a children’s corner with toys and activities appropriate to their age group. We will also have a breastfeeding and changing room for those of you who would like to have peace and quiet, although breastfeeding is, of course, perfectly acceptable in all conference spaces.

 

Please remember that  your presentation needs to be maximum 15 minutes and each panel will be chaired and moderated. There will be one discussion session at the end of each panel.

 

We look forward to seeing you very soon.

 

 

Best Wishes

 

 

Elena and Valerie

Abstract notifications

We are pleased to say that we received amazing 110 abstracts and practical proposals. However, this slowed down significantly the evaluation process. The selection process is finished and we will get back to you all individually. But this process may be lengthy, so please expect to receive an update about your submission by the end of next week, if not sooner (Fri, 13 March).

Thank you for your understanding and in solidarity for the International Women’s Day!!!

Elena and Valerie

Info

The call for papers submission deadline has been extended to 4 March 2015.

Motherhood and creative practice: Maternal structures in creative work

June 1-2, 2015

School of Arts and Creative Industries, London South Bank University, London

Motherhood and creative practice: Maternal structures in creative work is an international and interdisciplinary conference that addresses ongoing debates about hospitality, solidarity and encounter as concepts in creative practice, and how they relate to contemporary issues of mothering. Mothering involves commitment to creative balance and combining everyday chores. We are interested how practitioners combine art and mothering, activism and mothering, academia and mothering, science and mothering, mothering and allomothering. The conference will look at practice where the creative exploration, writing and theory about the mOther cannot be separated from one another. Ettinger reveals the intricate connections between critical theory on maternal and creative practice. According to Vigneault, the porous spaces of work that engages with the maternal as concept presents passageways which allow the viewer and reader to move through and between the various levels of text and image, theory and art, in a constant shift between modes of production (2009:69). There is a gradual, yet sustained increase in creative practices which, starting from the challenges posed by the above concepts, explore the maternal in various encounter-event formations. The conference will also look into female experiences and sexual lifestyles that explore the encounters of infertility, medical intervention, adoption and fostering, queer mothering and childlessness by choice or not. We invite scholars and artists to also explore the creative embodiment of intergenerational trauma and the complex territory of mother-daughter relationships, and bring into dialogue social, scientific and artistic perspectives.

The conference will also encompass the exhibition “Alternative Maternals” curated by Laura Gonzalez, a curated performance section led by Faith Wilding’s performative reading of her memoirs, and a post-graduate discussion room. The post-graduate room will be enriched with performative texts, films, visual and audio works (we strongly encourage postgraduate students to send proposals and abstracts).

A full registration fee includes morning and afternoon break refreshments, two lunches, free entry to exhibition and performances and conference reception event.