Category: ART

‘Black Portraiture[s]: Black Bodies in the West’ The fifth conference in the series opened January 17, 2013 at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beau-arts/ 14 Rue Bonaparte/ Paris, France. The registration exceeded all expectations. On a very cold day in Paris all panels were full and the presentations were attended by standing room only conferees. According to the producers:

• The conference launch was a resounding success, boasting over 350 local and international attendees from Tunisia and Canada, Angola and Denmark, South Africa and Spain. We are thrilled at the turnout and inspired by such lively discussion.

The second session opens today January 18 at 9:00 AM and registration continues until 5:00 PM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The producers  have chosen the beautiful École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSB-A), the distinguished National School of Fine Arts in Paris, France as the site for registration.  Throughout history, many world-renowned artists have either taught or studied at this institution.

Panelists on January 18 include:

Cheryl Finley, Cornell University:

Pamela Newkirk, NYU

Roshini Kempadoo, University of London

Isolde Brielmaieer, Chief Curator, SCAD Museum of Art/SCAD Galleries: Chair

Carrie Mae Weems, Artist, JackShainman Gallery, New York

Mark Anthony Neal, Professor of Black Popular Culture, Duke University

Sandra Jackson-Dumont, Seattle Art Museum, Chair

Robert O’meally, Columbia University

Mimi Plange, Fashion Designer

Michaela Angela Davis, Writer fashion expert and image activist

and many others from throughout the western world.

 

NYU Professor Dr. Deborah Willis is among the principal organizers and collaborators to produce ‘Black Portraiture(s): The Black Body in the West’ in Paris, France January 17-20, 2013. The conference is sponsored by Harvard University and NYU among others.   Over 500 scholars and artists have registered to attend. Participants and guests are expected to arrive from many countries including France, US, UK, Germany, Nigeria, Angola, SA, Netherlands and the Caribbean. This conference will be the fifth in the series since 2004.

Black Portraiture(s) explores the ideas of self-representation, desire, and the exchange of the gaze from the 19th century to the present day in fashion, film, art, and the archives. How are these images, both positive and negative, presented to define, replicate, and transform the black body? Why and how does the black body become a purchasable commodity in a global marketplace…and what are its legacies? Also importantly, what should be the responses and implications for the future? How can performing blackness be more liberating for performer and audience? Can the black body be de-racialized to emphasize cultural groupings in encouraging appropriation among varied performers across racial lines?

The conference draws on the ideas and works of leading and emerging writers, photographers, scholars, artists, curators and filmmakers of our time. One aim is to encourage a broader discussion of the contributions from Africa and the African diaspora in the popular discourse. How the black body has been imagined in the West has always been a rich site for global examination and contestation. The representation and depiction of black peoples has  often been governed by locally prevailing attitudes about race and sexuality.

It is both important and significant that this project represents the collaboration among such a diverse group of distinguished international scholars, artists, and intellectuals.

 Event Organizers: Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Deborah Willis, Manthia Diawara, Jean-Paul Colleyn, Lydie Diakhate, Awam Amkpa, Chery Finley, Anne-Christine Taylor-Descola, Anna Laban, Christine Barthe, Caroline Montel-Glenisson, Raissa Laheine, Thelma Golden, and Nicholas Bourriaud.