South African Visual Arts Historians (SAVAH)
Comité International d’Histoire de l’Art (CIHA)
Colloquium
Organised by SAVAH under the aegis of CIHA, to take place at theUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 12 – 15 January 2011

SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS
Other Views: Art History in (South) Africa andthe Global SouthC

IHA has recently been addressing concerns about the unequal distribution of resources
around the globe and challenges from post-colonial societies to the older methods andconcepts of western art history. At the CIHA congress in Melbourne in January 2008, one ofthe key issues for discussion was the extent to which we need to re-think the discipline of the historyof art “in order to establish cross-cultural dimensions as fundamental to its scope, method andvision”. SAVAH proposes continuing these discussions in the colloquium ‘Other Views: Art History in(South) Africa and the Global South’ to be held at the University of the Witwatersrand in
Johannesburg in January, 2011.
A principal focus of the discussions, with particular reference to South Africa, will be how the studyof art from the African continent is often impeded by a totalising notion of an undifferentiated‘Africa’. This belies the histories, political trajectories and regional differences of its many
communities, nations and states. The focus offers opportunities to pose questions such as: What isthe counter point to the homogeneous ‘African art’ label? How can art history in an African context
challenge traditional western art history with regard to notions of authenticity, individuality, artisticprocesses, methods and theories? What are the discourses of indigenous people’s art practices,and what is the importance of early indigenous art for a history of art in South Africa and elsewhere?
In what ways, and under what circumstances, can objects previously defined as ‘craft’ or ‘utilitarian’
be incorporated into the domain of ‘art’? How is ‘heritage’ understood, collected and displayed?
What are the ideologies behind collecting, patronage and restitution, and the use of objects,
buildings and spaces? How do we negotiate questions of identity and culture in an increasingly‘global’ world? What do we choose to study and why? How do we teach that which we choose tostudy?
These questions have relevance in South Africa, Africa and the Global South. The Global South in thiscontext is a cultural construct rather than a geographic term. It refers to communities and artistic
production, throughout history and across nations, which, within the dominant narratives of westernart, have been ignored, marginalised, displaced and appropriated. The Global South may include
eastern bloc artists largely unknown to the west during the Cold War, items traditionally regarded as

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women’s work, First Nation peoples in Canada and indigenous people in South Africa, communities
whose cultural artefacts were appropriated for the universal museum of the west, and people whohave neither the power nor money to write their own art histories. We do not envision covering all
aspects and areas of Africa and the Global South, but we shall use the Global South construct as aframework to focus on Africa and in particular South Africa. The aim is to complicate the history ofart and the relationship between histories in the Global South and the ‘north’ or ‘west’.
We plan six plenary sessions over three days, with provision for graduate students to participate,possibly in parallel workshop and poster sessions. We invite proposals for papers that address any of
the general rubrics outlined above. We will be accepting proposals for panels until the end of
December 2009, and abstracts for individual papers until March 2010. Individual abstracts sent tothe Organising Committee will be forwarded to the relevant panel convenor(s) to be considered forinclusion. Potential presenters will be informed of the outcome of their proposals by the beginningof June 2010.
Abstracts, up to 250 words in length, must be submitted in English, and must include the author’s
institutional affiliation and relevant contact details. The final length of individual papers must notexceed 3,000 words, in order to fit into the strict 20 minute time limit per presentation.
Proposals should be sent to the Chairperson of SAVAH, Dr Federico Freschi atfederico.freschi@wits.ac.za

SAVAH/CIHA Committee comprising Dr Federico Freschi (SAVAH Chairperson); Karen von Veh(SAVAH Past Chairperson ex officio); Dr Jillian Carman (SAVAH Vice-Chairperson)
Johannesburg
July 2009