Borderlines VII: Performing through the Unknown
Thursday 20th June 2019
The seventh annual interdisciplinary conference on
performance hosted by De Montfort University's the Drama Research Group and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Dance (CIRID), is scheduled to take
place on Thursday 20th June 2019.
Sarah Gorman, Reader in the Department of Drama, Theatre & Performance at
Roehampton University, London,will be our keynote speaker for the conference (see
further details below).
Moving on from last year’s exploration of different
modalities of fear, this year’s conference investigates art and performance's
potential to engage with and question the aftermath of acts and events inducing
fear. We consider this in relation to historical and numerous recent political
events whose consequences have been anticipated and marked by expressions of
fear, including the aftermath of: Britain’s vote to leave the EU, experiences
articulated in connection with the #MeToo movement, and the increasing global
rise of populist, anti-democratic governments. We propose this condition of
aftermath as a transitional state of the unknown and unknowable with blurred
and ruptured borders that could lead to an escalation of fear and a loss of
trust, or which could be filled with potential, enabling a process of taking
stock, discovery, protest and re-politicisation.
In her 1992 Oxford Amnesty Lecture, ‘We Who Are Free, Are We
Free?’, Hélène Cixous queries ‘who still wants to save the freedom of
/language/?’ (1993: 215; emphasis in original). Cixous emphasises the freedom
of artistic modes of expression that embrace risk and complexity. She advocates
for the writer or artist ‘getting lost’ and pursuing ‘free-writings’ that:
follow neither road nor line… make mistakes, correct
themselves, repent, leap, sweep down between the lines like gulls, there is a
dry, violent wind blowing on this land, oh yes, they cut our moorings at once,
they are an invitation to the flood. Come, they say, sink with me and I will
resuscitate you. (1993: 216-217)
Yet, how possible is such creative immersion in the flood
when faced with the persistent hum of political uncertainty and fake news,
institutionalised anxiety and exploitation, anticipated violence or a traumatic
aftermath? We invite explorations of performance that debate whether to adhere
to or reassert the borderlines or to take the plunge and cross this cliff edge
of the unknown.
Proposals are invited for papers, performances, work
demonstrations, artist talks and provocations. Possible areas for consideration
might include, but are not limited to:
Creative practices, processes or performances that
critically engage with:
- The aftermath of historical events, experiences or practices that induced fear
- The uncertain or traumatic aftermath of recent events, which may include: Britain’s vote to leave the EU, experiences articulated in connection with the #MeToo movement, and the increasing global rise of populist, anti-democratic governments
- Anxieties surrounding representations of gender or sexuality that appear unknown and unknowable
- Anxieties surrounding uncertain cultural borders or places of ‘home’
- Toxic fears that may include racism, xenophobia, hate crimes, misogynist behaviours, incel positions, class slurs, ableist laws
- Institutionalised anxiety and exploitation
- Anticipating new beginnings with apprehension or hope
- Uncertain transitional moments and blurred borders as a chance to take stock or power, to re-politicise and protest
- Fearless or joyous exploration of the unknown and risk
- Facilitating communities or individuals through the unknown
- Supporting the audience to experience or participate in the unknown
- Immersion in the unknown through use of text, image, sound, space, bodies or technologies
- Risky ventures that explode disciplinary or artistic borderlines
Proposals of 250 words, a 100-word biography, and a list of
resources / technical needs should be sent to Alissa Clarke a.clarke@dmu.ac.uk by the 18th April 2019. Notifications of acceptance will be sent
out by the 1st of May 2019.
Borderlines Postgraduate Panel Submissions 2019
Continuing on from the success of previous Borderlines postgraduate-led panels, we are welcoming postgraduate researchers who may
alternatively wish to submit proposals for 10 minute papers or performative
presentations. This panel offers students the opportunity to present their
research in a peer-led environment whilst still contributing to and engaging
with the breadth of the conference programme.
Proposals should include the title and format of the
presentation, a 200 word abstract, a list of resources / technical needs and a
brief biographical statement. Proposals should be sent to
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