Feminist theory emerged among academics and artists as a reaction to generations of neglect and inaccurate historical narratives. Although it has empowered women, feminist theory is currently being challenged to go beyond binary concepts of gender and incorporate intersectional theories of identification. Queer theory, on the other hand, has always been highly inclusive, and in embracing a spectrum of orientations has extended the field of academic inquiry and artistic endeavor. This one-day conference focuses on “the ways in which queer theory and feminism are ‘otherwise’ to each other” as keynote speaker Amelia Jones has put it. In line with Jones’ scholarly approach, the conference is committed to honoring past feminist theories while embracing queer theory’s radical rethinking of identification in relation to cultural practices and aesthetics. The conference thus addresses the development of feminist and queer theory, correlations between them at present, and the direction each may take in the future.

The conference is organized by Dr. Boel Hackman, Prof. Malin Hedlin Hayden, Dr. Christer Johansson, Prof. Tiina Rosenberg, and Dr. Jessica Sjöholm Skrubbe and is preceded by two one-day long workshops chaired by Prof. Amelia Jones.

Programme

7 December

10:00 am – 4:00 pm: Workshop with PhD students (for admitted participants only).

8 December

10:00 am – 4:00 pm: Workshop with Senior Researchers (for admitted participants only).

9 December

Moderator: Professor Tiina Rosenberg.

9:30–10:00 Introduction Professor Tiina Rosenberg, Department of Culture and Aesthetics, Stockholm University.

10:00–10:30 Dirk Gindt: In a Blue Time and Place: HIV and AIDS Performance in the Twenty-First Century. Gindt is Associate Professor in Theatre Studies at the Department of Culture and Aesthetics, Stockholm University.

10:30–11:00 Coffee

11:00–11:30 Hanna Hallgren: The inventions and consolidations of research fields – feminist strategies and methods in artistic research: artistic strategies and methods in feminist research. Hallgren is Professor in Literary Composition at Valand Academy, University of Gothenburg.

11:30–12:00 Annica Karlsson Rixon: Queer Community through Photographic Acts. Karlsson Rixon is a visual artist holding a PhD in photography from Valand Academy, University of Gothenburg.

12:00–13:30 Lunch Break

13:30–14:30 Keynote Speaker Professor Amelia Jones: Essentialism, Feminism, and Art: Spaces where Woman “Oozes Away. Jones is Robert A. Day Professor in Art and Design and Vice-Dean of Critical Studies at the Roski School of Art and Design, University of Southern California.

14:30–15:00 Coffee

15:00–15:30 Kristina Fjelkestam and Claudia Lindén: To Desire the Past. Queer Temporality and the Historical Novel. Fjelkestam is Professor in Gender studies at the Department of Ethnology, History of Religions and Gender studies, Stockholm University. Lindén is Associate Professor in Comparative Literature at the School of Culture and Education, Södertörn University College.

15:30–16:45 Discussion moderated by Tiina Rosenberg.

16:45–17:00 Concluding remarks and feedback to the preceding workshops by Malin Hedlin Hayden.

The workshops and the conference are funded by Kungl. Vitterhetsakademien.

About the workshop

By bringing together scholars interested in feminist and queer approaches to aesthetics and artistic research this workshop offers a platform to exchange ideas and make new acquaintances. The objectives of the sessions are based on case studies and ideas generated and presented by the participants. Discussions on each case are to encourage the participants to explore specific approaches and challenges in their work. The participants are provided with a reading list before the workshop so that they can be prepared to discuss particular aspects of their own research projects relating to feminist and queer theories. These sessions are facilitated and chaired by Professor Amelia Jones. During these sessions it is hoped that the participants will be able to develop ideas for future research projects and collaborations. The lessons learned and points requiring attention are summarized in a roundtable by a representative of each group for report-back in the final session of the workshop with concluding remarks by Professor Amelia Jones. 

Amelia Jones – a presentation

Robert A. Day, Professor in Art and Design and Vice-Dean of Critical Studies at the Roski School of Art and Design, University of Southern California.

Trained in art history, film theory, and performance studies, and widely read in philosophy and identity theory, Jones’ current research addresses the confluence of “queer,” “feminist,” and “performance” in the visual arts, and recent publications explore the ideological implications of claims of presence in performance and visual art discourse (in TDR), the usefulness of new materialist theory to the study of performative art practices (also in TDR), and numerous articles addressing the work of artists previously marginalized from art discourse and institutions (including Ulay, Senga Nengudi, Faith Wilding, and Martha Wilson).

Jones is the author of numerous books, including Seeing Differently: A History and Theory of Identification and the Visual Arts (2012), Self/Image: Technology, Representation, and the Contemporary Subject (2006), Irrational Modernism: A Neurasthenic History of New York Dada (2004), and Body Art/Performing the Subject (1998), and the editor or co-editor of anthologies including the Feminism and Visual Culture Reader (new edition 2010), Sexuality (2014) in the Whitechapel “Documents” series, and, with Adrian Heathfield, Perform Repeat Record: Live Art in History (2012). Jones has also curated such landmark exhibitions as “Sexual Politics: Judy Chicago's Dinner Party in Feminist Art History,” held at UCLA’s Armand Hammer Museum of Art in 1996 and her exhibition Material Traces: Time and the Gesture in Contemporary Art took place in 2013 in Montreal.

Research Keywords

Feminist history & theory, queer theory, anti-racist theory, theory of modern and contemporary Euro-American visual arts including performance, film video, and installation.