Call for chapter proposals — Intersecting Practices: Contemporary Art in Heritage Spaces

Points of intersection enable unrivalled opportunities for creativity and innovation – where two seemingly disparate elements converge, critical and creative possibilities are opened up.

This proposal for an edited volume of essays under the title Intersecting Practices: Contemporary Art in Heritage Spaces takes the intersection of contemporary art and heritage as its central concept.

Seeking to present a collection of different perspectives from a broad range of creative and cultural industries, this volume seeks to examine a number of case studies from the past decade where contemporary art has been sited within heritage spaces. Exploring the impact of these instances of intersection, and the thinking behind these moments of confluence, it aims to provide an insight into a breadth of experiences — from curator, producer and practitioner to visitor — of exhibitions where this juncture between contemporary art and heritage plays a crucial and critical role.

This proposed volume seeks to expand on a collection of papers presented as a series of workshops in Leeds in 2014 and funded by the Creative and Cultural Industries Exchange, University of Leeds. These papers were delivered by academics, curators, heritage professionals and arts-based practitioners. Building on this work we are now seeking chapter abstracts from a broad range of theoretical, methodological and practice-based perspectives that may relate to, but are not limited to the following themes within the context of contemporary art and heritage:

• Case study exhibitions/projects
• Collaborative strategies
• Notions of site-specificity
• Relationship of art-artist-audience within heritage sites
• Curatorial perspectives
• Potential of contemporary art to open up hidden/ contentious/ unofficial histories
• Audience impact (qualitative/ qualitative)
• Tourism/ Visitor Economy/ Regeneration Strategies
• Contributions that are critical of key terms e.g. ‘contemporary art’; ‘heritage’; ‘the contemporary’; ‘impact’
• Perspectives on digital technologies, artistic practice and heritage interpretation

Editors: Nick Cass (School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies, University of Leeds); Gill Park (University of Manchester); Anna Powell (University of Huddersfield)

Please send an abstract (500 words) and a short bio to: Nick Cass n.cass@leeds.ac.uk

Deadline for abstract submissions: Friday 6 October 2017

Completed chapters will be required by Easter 2018.

Image: Work by (from left) Kate McGwire at Attingham Park, Anthony Caro at Chatsworth House and Yinke Shonibare at Royal Observatory.