CFP NEMLA 2022 CARE
Northeast Modern Languages Association
March 10-13, 2022 at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore Maryland

Please submit your abstract here by September 30 2021

This session will deal with the ways that a feminist and/or genderqueer praxis in art curatorship can address historical inequalities in the art world.

In 1971, Linda Nochlin published her key essay “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?”. Central to her argument was the concept that the very notion of the “Great Artist” could not accommodate the realities of women’s day-to-day lives. This dilemma, that the “Great Woman Artist” cannot exist due to gendered living, remains relevant today. As a case in point, the pandemic has seen an exodus of women from the workforce to roles as carer-givers, as if by default.

In keeping with the 2022 theme of care, we are seeking proposals that speak to acts of care by genderqueer, cis, and trans women in art. In other words, how can we care for art and artists in a new way? While intentionally broad, this could deal with such questions as what feminist and/or genderqueer curatorship looks like, relationships between women and/or genderqueer artists, the ways in which women and genderqueer artists generate their own networks of worth outside of the current hierarchy (such as online platforms), if and how we can create more inclusive spaces for women and genderqueer people in the current system, as well as highlighting current and past curators who have created safe spaces for women and genderqueer individuals.

Within the field of Art History in the past, there has been a lack of female and genderqueer representation. This session will deal with the ways that curatorship has evolved and new practices that elevate the genderqueer, cis, and trans women.