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April 15, 2024
Update: CALL FOR PAPERS*
Deadline extended to December 20, 2023
Surface Tension: Popular K-Arts vs Korean Arts in the Hallyu Era
AAPlab’s 3rd International Conference
February 22-24, 2024
University of Montreal
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
“We carry the past into the yet-unknown future we are shaping now in the present.” – Jin-me Yoon
“We will only escape from the major crises of our era through the articulation of: –a nascent subjectivity; –a constantly mutating socius; –an environment in the process of being reinvented.”– Félix Guattari, The Three Ecologies (1989)
The Asian Art Publication Lab (AAPlab) will hold its third international conference “Surface Tension: Popular K-Arts vs Korean Arts in the Hallyu Era” from February 22nd to 24th, 2024, at the University of Montreal (UdeM) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Here the term “K-Arts” refers to Korean popular arts such as K-Drama, K-Pop, K-Cinema etc., while “Korean Arts” refers to both traditional and contemporary artistic production.
This conference aims to examine how environmental, geocultural and geopolitical issues are represented or silenced in the K-Arts while also acknowledging the groundbreaking achievements of the Hallyu or Korean Wave in changing global perceptions of Asian arts and culture. With its central question “Can the arts speak up?” the conference responds to Guattari’s notion of ecology, which incorporates the social and subjective into the environmental and thus can equally be applied to our living conditions, sustainability, ecosophy and equilibria as expressed through the arts
The conference welcomes papers from a wide range of disciplines, including Cinema and Media Studies, Film Philosophy, Geoculture, Geopolitics and Asian Art History, on topics including but not limited to:
The current global surge of fascination with Korean popular culture and arts is a phenomenon that has impacted cultural sectors around the world. Like the French New Wave (Nouvelle Vague) of the late 1950s or the British Invasion and American New Wave of the ‘60s, the Korean Wave has challenged the boundaries between popular and contemporary arts. With its swift and radical impacts on international arts and culture and its global proliferation, the Hallyu has rapidly mushroomed in tandem with the rise of new social media platforms.
Notably, the mainstream Korean Wave is fueled by consumerism and commodities that reflect the privilege of the wealthy classes with an emphasis on aesthetics, beauty and cosmetic appearance fuelling the rapid economic growth of related industries. Underneath this glossy veneer, the distressing realities of Korean social, cultural, and environmental issues have been silenced, excluded or neglected. The Korean Wave has assigned the letter “K” to Korean artistic and cultural production across the board, be it pop culture or diverse other disciplines, which has seen some artists and scholars expressing a perplexed feeling in their artistic and theoretical approaches. In resonance with Korean film director Bong Joon-Ho’s remark “Films, novels and all creative works, they always reflect the violence that exists in the world, but a beat late”, this conference will explore not only the sunny side but also the shadows of Hallyu. We aim to examine the blurred boundaries between pop art and contemporary art, as well as asking what artistic visions are being proposed that challenge or refuse the mainstream “K” and what is the potential of these visions for the world to come?
Submission guidelines:
Proposals can be submitted in English or French to asianartpublicationlab@gmail.com no later than 11:59 PM (EST) on December 20th, 2023. Individual proposals are limited to 250 words max, plus a 100-word bio of the presenter(s), a max of 5 keywords and 3 bibliographical references. We welcome papers from artists, established researchers, postdoctoral and early-career scholars, and postgraduate students.
Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by December 30th, 2023.
The organizing committee plans to publish an edited volume or special journal issue of the papers presented.
The conference will be held in person with some virtual access and will be free of charge to attend. For invited presenters, lodging (up to two nights) and meals will be covered. For more information, please visit: https://koreanfilmfestivalcanada.ca/conference-2024/
For inquiries: AAPlab at asianartpublicationlab@gmail.com
Social media: AAPLab, KFFC, Instagram
This conference is generously funded by the Academy of Korean Studies in Seoul, Korea.
Keynote speakers:
Organizing Committee:
*We express our sincere gratitude to peer researchers of AAPlab for their invaluable feedback on refining the conference theme. —Mi-Jeong Lee, Lecturer at the UdeM and Director of AAPlab.
Asian Art Publication Lab (AAPlab) is a Montreal-based research and creation laboratory at the intersection of arts and technology since 2020. Our goal is to bridge the gap between the East and West by decolonizing Asian arts through inclusive and critical dialogue. We publish and translate textbooks, essays, and lived stories based on art practices and experiments, and provide a platform for innovative Pan-Asian art projects. AAPlab is a project of Arts East-West / Korean Film Festival Canada, a Quebec based, artist-driven nonprofit organization supporting Asian media arts since 1996.
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