RiDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance
Call for papers: Questions of Aesthetics and Participation
In this themed edition on questions of aesthetics and participation, we seek
contributions to debates about audience and participation and about the ways
that notions and practices of aesthetics and reception affect notion and
practices of participation, or provoke the existence of participatory work
in the first place.
In November 2010, this journal published a themed edition on the aesthetics
of applied theatre and performance. The editors and contributors developed a
series of interventions into debates and discourses of aesthetics in applied
theatre practice. Following on from this work, and from the publication of
Claire Bishop¹s Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of
Spectatorship (2012), we would like to invite artists, educators, scholars
and cultural critics to participate in further debate.
This, then, is an invitation to engage in questions about the cultural value
and artistic quality of applied and community performance, but specifically
to relate the discussion to questions and problems of participation in
theatre, performance and education. For the purposes of this discussion, we
might choose to think very broadly about participation, or even to ask
questions that make more precise our use of the term.
We are interested in hearing about the many works and projects that attempt
to upset, blur or otherwise confound the distinction between facilitator and
participant. We are also keen to consider how notions and relations of
education and learning contribute to the cultural or artistic value of
participation. It also seems important to address the way that works are
framed: how do notions of aesthetics, beauty and art inform reception and
production in participatory work?
To look at the question from another perspective, we can also ask how
experiences of beauty and transcendence are communicated beyond the specific
moment of performance in works that are primarily focused on participants.
The working methods and aesthetic innovations of community work, for
example, belong among the significant achievements of culture, and yet
innovations often remain restrictively isolated and specific.
When making community or participatory performance, to what extent is it
possible to think (only) of the audience? How might audiences prepare for
the watching of this work? How do we develop an elaborated culture of
reception for community and participatory art work? How do educators relate
their own artistic practice and participation to debates around aesthetics
and cultural value?
We seek proposals for work in the following forms:
Scholarly articles of around 5,000 words
Review essays of works (performed and written) that have importance to this
theme.
Provocations and other accounts by practitioners
Interviews and dialogues between performance makers/practitioners
Contributions that challenge or extend the possibilities for participating
in this conversation
As part of the development of conversations around this themed edition,
there will be an invited symposium on 18th September 2013 at the University
of Hull, UK. This symposium will be an opportunity to develop focused
discussion on questions of aesthetics and participation. The symposium will
give opportunity to develop arguments and ideas for the themed issue.
Colleagues might wish to contribute to the symposium and also to the themed
issue, or to one or other of these conversations.
RiDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance is a refereed journal
aimed at those who are interested in applying performance practices to
cultural engagement, educational innovation and social change. It provides
an international forum for research into drama and theatre conducted in
community, educational, developmental and therapeutic contexts. The journal
offers a dissemination of completed research and research in progress, and
through its Points and Practices section it encourages debate between
researchers both on its published articles and on other matters.
Contributions are drawn from a range of people involved in drama and theatre
from around the world. It aims to bring the fruits of the best researchers
to an international readership and to further debates in the rich and
diverse field of educational drama and applied theatre.
Peer Review Policy:
All research articles in this journal undergo rigorous peer review, based on
initial editor screening and anonymised refereeing by at least two anonymous
referees. All reviewers are internationally recognized in their field, and
the editorial board of RiDE aim to support scholars from many different
parts of the world.
Expressions of interest in Symposium: 30th July 2013
Detailed abstracts: 1st November 2013
Full drafts of articles: 1st February 2014.
All enquiries and submissions should be sent to Colette Conroy, the editor
of the themed edition: c.conroy@hull.ac.uk
