Art, Access and Agency – Art Sites of Enabling: A three-day conference event

Art, Access and Agency – Art Sites of Enabling is a three-day conference event presented on 7 – 9 October 2021 by the School of the Arts in the Faculty of Humanities in collaboration with the Transformation Directorate, University of Pretoria.

Through this event we seek to raise awareness about difference, diversity and discrimination on and well beyond campus. In this regard our primary focus is upon the manner in which contemporary art and the myriad forms of practice and research associated therewith may act as a catalyst to enact change. Participants were invited to design their contributions around four interrelated themes. 

The first two themes relate to the artwork and the site of its encounter: 

• The artwork as a site of enabling (materiality and form, performance and the performative in relation to the display and interpretation of the work of art). 
• Contemporary art institutions as sites of enabling (artist-run spaces, non-profits, galleries, museums, art collections and related art spaces and practices). 

The second two themes expand to focus on the artwork and its relationship to various communities, sites of learning and forms of engagement and production: 

• Educational art spaces and practices of learning as sites of enabling (arts schools, universities, educational programmes within museums, for example). 
• Community engagement, publications and other aesthetic forms of social creation (collaborative creation, open dialogue, socio-aesthetic interaction and access). 

Contributions take a number of forms including papers, workshops, screenings and discussions and other spatio-conceptual interventions (digital, analogue). The event proceedings will be published in book form (peer-reviewed where applicable) and all contributions will also be rendered in a suitable format for print publication. 

PRESENTED ON 7 – 9 October 2021 

ALL TIMES ARE CENTRAL AFRICA TIME (CAT) 

HOSTING INSTITUTION: University of Pretoria 

PROJECT PARTNERS: Transformation Directorate, University of Pretoria & The School of the Arts, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pretoria 

ORGANISERS: Dr Johan Thom (Senior Lecturer, Coordinator Fine Arts and Postgraduate Studies in Fine Art, UP) and Prof Lize Kriel (Chair, Visual Arts, UP).

PLATFORMS: 

Online events on Zoom 

Closing event at the Student Gallery at the Javett-UP (Covid lockdown levels permitting, strict protocols to be followed) 

Attendance is free.

ENQUIRIES: aaaconference@up.ac.za