Call for papers - Symposium Ensor
Celebrating James Ensor’s Modernity. New Perspectives
Dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the death of the Belgian artist James Ensor (1860-1949)
Location: University of Antwerp, Hof van Liere, Antwerp (Belgium)
Dates: 9, 10 & 11 December 2024
English spoken
Deadline: 15 September 2024
Contact person: Herwig Todts
The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), in association with the University of Antwerp (ARCHES – Antwerp Cultural Heritage Sciences) & ARIA – Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts, is organizing an international symposium on James Ensor to be held on Monday 9, Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 December 2024. The symposium ties in with the exhibition In Your Wildest Dreams. Ensor Beyond Impressionism, which the KMSKA is mounting in the autumn of 2024 as the final chord of the Ensor jubilee year.
The symposium will bring together national and international researchers, who in recent years have shed new light on James Ensor, the painter, graphic artist, draughtsman and writer. At the same time, it aspires to build a bridge to the future so as to keep alive the interest in, research into and inspiration of (the cultural-historical context of) Ensor’s diverse practices.
James Ensor is increasingly recognized as a crucial figure in the development of modern art. With his uncompromising visual language, the artist distanced himself from the classical European beauty ideal and the impressionism that had fascinated him initially. In his bold satire and masquerades with experimental forms and contrasting colours, Ensor presaged forerunners of expressionism like Edvard Munch and Vincent Van Gogh, as well as the surrealists. Around 1900, avant-gardists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Emil Nolde and Erich Heckel recognized him as an innovative artist who broke with classic Western European artistic values and traditions.
Furthermore, Ensor’s subjects and standpoints are still highly topical on today’s national and international art scene. His motifs, style and artistic personality resonate strongly with the practice of numerous contemporary artists. Indeed, themes like the mask and the grotesque, social criticism, ecology, identification with Christ, the crowd, satire and death have lost none of their relevance.
We welcome papers exploring the rich and versatile career of James Ensor with a fresh contextualization in the broader artistic, cultural and historical fabric of the fin de siècle and first decades of the 20th century. We also invite reflections on Ensor’s legacy on contemporary art practices and artistic research. Topics should draw on Ensor’s oeuvre and career and may include, but are not necessarily limited to:
- artistic/intellectual friendships and their impact on creativity
- styles and motifs
- specific works or clusters of works
- materials and technique (paintings, graphics, drawings)
- private collectors and public collections
- theoretical reflections on Ensor’s modernity
- interrelationships between the arts and popular (visual) culture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
- Ensor’s bearing on today’s artistic practices and artistic research
Organizing committee: Jan Dirk Baetens (Radboud University Nijmegen), Bart G. Moens (University of Antwerp), Herwig Todts (Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp), Geert Van der Snickt (University of Antwerp), Cathérine Verleysen (Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp), Nele Wynants (University of Antwerp)
Please send an abstract of 250 words for a 20-minute paper and a short biography to: herwig.todts@kmska.be and catherine.verleysen@kmska.be
Deadline for submission of a proposal: 15 September 2024
On this occasion, we are able to offer travel bursaries to speakers.
Partners Ensor 2024:
James Ensor House – Event Flanders – KMSKA, Antwerp – FOMU, Antwerp – MoMu, Antwerp – Museum Plantin-Moretus, Antwerp – Mu.ZEE, Ostend – City of Antwerp – City of Ostend – Visit Flanders
Call for applications: Advanced Master of Research in Arts & Design in a Social-Political Context - St Lucas School of Arts Antwerp
Are you an artist or designer working on social-political concerns, and do you need more time for your practice-based research? Do you need a nurturing research environment with critical but caring peers and tutors? Do you want to improve your writing, theoretical framework and artistic methodologies? Are you in search for the right formats and contexts to share your artistic research experiments? Are you ready to dedicate yourself to an intensive artistic research period? Then this program might be something for you!
This advanced master program focuses on the research development of artists and designers whose practice is addressing a social-political context (including but not limited to feminism, social design, migration, decolonization, race, gender, queer, class, disability politics, capitalism, the Anthropocene, the (under)commons, community art, critical design, healing & rituals, history, AI & digital culture…). We offer intense coaching in writing, critical studies, artistic research methodologies and in sharing research. The coaching is individual, collective and participatory.
The concrete program is developed in accordance with the specific research proposals, interests and needs of participants. It offers intense coaching in writing, critical studies, artistic research methodologies and sharing research. The coaching is individual, collective and participatory; every participant is invited to expand our situated knowledges and responsibilities. There is a strong focus on sharing research and (peer-to-peer) feedback; this entails collectively designing productive formats to share our insights and creating a sustainable research network.
The participants meet in Antwerpen every two or three weeks for three full days, mostly on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. These three days are dedicated to four modules (Methodology, Writing, Critical Theory and Share Research) in which we focus on the participants’ specific research proposals and enable them to advance in writing, theoretical explorations, research methodology and sharing their research. Parallel to this trajectory, we also organize three intensive weeks. These are three full-time research weeks with international or local artists or designers across the fields of artistic research.
Who
We work with a small group of maximum 12 students. The candidates are artists or designers who have developed an individual or collaborative practice and intend to work on a practice-based artistic research project for one year. The program is particularly suitable to those interested in critically developing their practice within a social-political field or in preparation for a PhD project.
The participants are expected to be present at all sessions (three full days) every two or three weeks and at the three intensive weeks. In addition, there will be peer-to-peer workshops, seminars, talks and other events organized as part of the program.
We expect participation and engagement in a practice of collective care, critical reflection, and responsibility. The workload and intensity of the program is not to be underestimated and we therefore recommend candidates to realistically assess their availability and commitment before applying. Ideally, students are based in or willing to relocate to Antwerp or Belgium.
This program is anchored in a nurturing research environment of five dedicated and experienced tutors, and several PhD and senior researchers as well as a network of guest lecturers and partner organizations.
Small collectives or artistic duos are also encouraged to apply!
Practical information
Would you like to enroll in the advanced master’s program?
‘Sint Lucas Antwerpen, School of Arts’ is part of the ‘KdG University of Applied Sciences and Arts.’
On this page of the KdG-website, you find all admission requirements such as the tuition fee, study costs, scholarships registration and the application procedure.
For the 2024-25 academic year: Admissions will open in January 2024.
- Please register here and load up all the necessary document, then you will be invited to send in your research file
- The due date for sending in your research proposal is 23 August 2024.
- Selected candidates will be invited for an online admission interview on 28 August 2024.
- You will be informed of the decision no later than 30 August.
Call for research proposals Royal Academy of Fine Arts and Royal Conservatoire Antwerp
The Councils of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and Royal Conservatoire Antwerp (Schools of Arts / AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts) launch their annual call for proposals for research projects. For one- and two-year projects starting on 15 September 2025.
→ Submit research application to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp
- apply for your project before 15 September 2024
- deadline for proposal submission: 2 December 2024
→ Submit research application to the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp
- contact one of the research groups no later than 1 October 2024
- deadline for proposal submission: 2 December 2024
OPEN CALL for contributions FORUM+
FORUM+ is an international peer-reviewed journal for research in the arts, published by Royal Conservatoire Antwerp and Amsterdam University Press, in collaboration with the Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts (ARIA). FORUM+ is looking for proposals for articles and artistic contributions that are the result of original artistic research. The upcoming deadline for proposal submission is 1 September 2024.
Calls for PhD fellowships
Go to PhD