Original CFP

Objects of Engagement looks at performance and non-performance strategies that seek engagement with particular objects/bodies/spaces. The conference hopes to explore the various modes of interaction
between human consciousness and inert matter, and the shifting boundaries of subject-object relationship. It examines the object and its status within diverse cultural, historical and social contexts and explores the various roles that artefacts and objects play in shaping our understanding of performance. The event invites emerging scholars and practitioners from various disciplines to come together, share their research, and raise questions regarding our relationship to the materiality of our world.

The conference will include presentations of 20-minute papers; 30-minute practice demonstrations and up to 45-minute workshops, with the aim of opening up wider dialogue within a multidisciplinary framework.

Topics include, but are not limited to:
• Object, body, space, time
• Objects and perception
• Objects and the archive
• Objects and the community
• Object/performer/spectator
• Objects as weapons
• Objects and ritual
• Objects and the earth
• Objects and reception
• Fetishised objects
• Familiar objects
• Functional objects
• Sacred objects
• Transitory objects
• Broken Objects
• Recycled Objects