CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

PERFORMANCE PHILOSOPHY PROBLEMS 2021:

How Does Performance Philosophy Collaborate?

9–12 JUNE 2021

The fifth international conference on performance philosophy is hosted by University of the Arts Helsinki, and it is arranged in collaboration with the Performance Philosophy network.

Our time generates problems with an unprecedented scope, depth, complexity and ubiquity. As the problems we face change in nature so too must our ways of struggling with them. Planetary problems require new modes of collaboration, transversal combinations and inclusiveness, summoning all kinds of agents from different fields, with different experiences and views. At the same time, existing organisations are compelled to rethink their reasons for existence, their values and ways of functioning. Performance Philosophy (PP) is not immune to this challenge.

Performance Philosophy Problems 2021 (PPP 2021) asks: what kinds of problems does working in the field of performance philosophy lead us to encounter and to articulate, and what tools does it provide to face them? The conference invites its participants – artists, philosophers, scholars, artist-researchers and performance philosophers, regardless of their particular genre, school or discipline – to articulate the range of performance philosophy problems whose treatment calls for dialogue and collaboration between philosophy and the performing arts:

– What kinds of problems in the contemporary world require an interdisciplinary dialogue between philosophy and performance, philosophers and performing artists? How has our way of articulating problems in these fields changed as a result of unfolding global catastrophes?

– What kind of burning or smouldering problems does the contemporary or historical field of performance present to you as an artist, researcher, performer, spectator or educator? What are their philosophical implications, and how can philosophy help to face them?

– Is there thinking within performance that presents problems that standard philosophy cannot approach, let alone solve? Are there philosophical problems that can only be detected and processed in and through performance philosophy?

A New ORGANISATORIAL MODEL: KEY GROUPS IN A key role

The thematic focus the conference is matched by its strategic aim: to develop non-hierarchical interaction and self-organisation between participants and to increase inclusiveness. This is why, in addition to individual and panel presentations, the conference is introducing a new organisational model, in which the habitual ‘keynote speakers’ will be replaced by collective agencies, key groups.

The key groups will be created around common problems. Each group may consist of artists, scholars, researchers, educators and other experts from within or outside academia. Already existing working groups, including those from other associations, are welcome to apply. The conference will facilitate the functioning of the key groups through a range of practical, direct and in-kind support. In return, the key groups are expected to commit to working before, during and after the conference.

A CONFERENCE THAT STRIVES TOWARDS INCLUSION

Access

PPP 2021 seeks to pay particular attention to different aspects of access and accessibility. We understand access in a broad sense, here meaning the wide range of needs that people have in order to take part in an event, including economic needs. The conference has both the technical and financial means to meet the accessibility needs of its contributors. We are also able to provide free and/or subsidised accommodation for a number of individuals or groups on the basis of need.

The PP Bursary for BIPOC artists and scholars: A £1000 award

The Performance Philosophy network invites applications from artists and scholars who identify as black, indigenous, and/or a person of colour for a £1000 (approx. €1100) bursary to participate in the biennial.

WHAT IS YOUR PERFORMANCE PHILOSOPHY PROBLEM?

PPP 2021 welcomes two types of proposals: (1) individual & panel proposals or (2) key group proposals. For more information and for submitting your proposal, please visit the conference webpage here:
uniarts.fi/performance-philosophy-conference-2021

The deadline for all proposals is 15 December 2020.