Fast Forward Conference: Women, Photography, Conflict Takes Place in Georgia

Tbilisi Photography & Multimedia Museum announces the Georgian edition of Fast Forward: Women in photography, which is organized in partnership with University for the Creative Arts (UCA) and London College of Communication (LCC) at University of the Arts London Photography (UAL).

This international conference will be the central event of the 11th Edition of Tbilisi Photo Festival and will hold on September 19-20, 2020.

The research project Fast Forward: Women in Photography, aims to explore the work and histories of women photographers, promote opportunities and question ideas dominating the field of photography by initiating thoughtful, new debates. Initiated in 2014 with a panel discussion at Tate Modern, the project has become significant within the world of photography for examining the work of women photographers and for questioning the way that the established canons have been formed.

Following the initial success of the first two conferences at Tate Modern in 2015 (https://bit.ly/38d5n6S) and at the National Gallery of Arts in Lithuania in 2017 (https://bit.ly/2SiVvmB), Fast Forward was awarded a Leverhulme Trust International Network Grant to run a series of research workshops in 6 countries, culminating in the third conference at Tate Modern in 2019 (https://bit.ly/38iUnor).

The theme for the 4th conference, to be held in Tbilisi Georgia, and co-convened by Professor Anna Fox and Maria Kapajeva (UCA), Professor Val Williams (UAL/LCC) and the Tbilisi Photography & Multimedia Museum, Georgia, will explore the ways that women photographers have worked in countries affected by conflict. The conference will generate new knowledge within this little- researched area.

As the violation of women’s rights is one of the prominent aspects dominating conflict zones, this theme resonates with many realities encountered by women across the region, including Georgia.

Over the last ten years, in South Caucasian countries such as Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, as well as Iran or the Persian Gulf countries, women photographers have been active in documenting violations of human rights, have advocated for women and initiated real changes. Yet, within the contemporary historiography of photography, their contributions are frequently omitted. Discussion of conflict photography almost always revolves around high action war photography and heavily-dominated by a traditional male perspective.

The 4th conference is calling for papers that explore, but which are not limited to, the following questions.

>> How do women photographers (re)shape our understanding of conflict?

>> To what extent does gender influence photography practice which deals with conflict and its aftermath.?

>> How can we adjust photographic history, to encompass non-Western work by women photographers?

>> In which ways have women’s photographic documentation of human rights violations contributed to social justice?

The conveners are particularly interested in bringing together, and giving voice to, photography professionals, photographers, scholars, curators and editors from the wider region, including the countries of South Caucasus, Ukraine, Turkey, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Persian Gulf countries, Jordan, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.

Deadline for the abstract submission: March 31, midnight GMT.

All applicants will be informed about the selection by May 15.

We hope to provide discretionary funding to selected speakers who require financial support.

Submission regulations:

The abstract submitted must be in English. However, as the working languages of the conference are Georgian and English, the presentation during the conference can be done in one of these two languages.

Please, submit the following documents:

1. 500-word abstract in a Word format, no images.

Please make sure your full name and the title of the paper are at the top of the abstract.

Please name the file as follows: ‘Your surname_Initial of you first name_abstract’ (ex: ‘Smith_J_abstract’)

2. CV in Word or PDF format, no images.

Please name the file as follows: ‘Your surname_Initial of the first name_CV’(ex: ‘Smith_J_CV’)

Both files must be submitted to email fastforward@ucreative.ac.uk with the subject line “Georgian Edition - submission”

Call for Papers can be also found on the link below: https://bit.ly/2SeAI3E