Performing Artefacts conference
Performing Artefacts is an interdisciplinary conference hosted by the Performance of the Real Research Theme, The University of Otago, Ōtepoti/Dunedin, New Zealand
18-19 November 2019
About the conference
As our world becomes increasingly digitised, we ask 'what role do physical objects continue to play in our lived realities?' This conference considers how peoples' experiences and knowledges of 'the real' are communicated via performances involving artefacts – performances of the everyday, as well as activities explicitly labelled 'performances.' It looks at how 'performance' and 'the real' are understood with respect to artefacts, as well as at how and why peoples' realities are communicated performatively using artefacts.
Provocations considered included:
- How are artefacts used performatively to represent or reframe various kinds of realities?
- Can or should virtual artefacts replace physical ones during performances? What are the affects/effects of doing so?
- How are artefacts used to blur how people perceive/conceive 'the real'?
- What is the importance of artefacts' objectivity or subjectivity when they are used performatively?
- How are peoples' pasts, presents and futures represented, communicated and understood via performances utilising artefacts?
- What are the socio-political and cultural realities of performing with particular kinds of artefacts? Are certain ontologies and epistemologies privileged or marginalised in such performances?
Keynote speakers
Our first keynote speaker is Conal McCarthy. Conal is Programme Director for the Stout Research Centre for New Zealand Studies at Victoria University, Wellington. His keynote presentation is titled: 'Performing the real? Things, words and agency in the social life of artifacts.' Visit Conal's extended biography.
Our second keynote speaker is Vanessa Russ. Vanessa is the Associate Director of the Berndt Museum of Anthropology at the University of Western Australia. Her keynote presentation is titled: 'Performing the art object: Inside collections, outside culture.' Visit Vanessa's extended biography.