The notion of periphery usually provides a starting point for the critical examination and problematisation of the contemporary dynamics of capitalism, ranging from global inequality to extractivism. At the same time, the concept of periphery can be transferred from the field of politico-economic analysis to the field of artistic, artivistic and political practises in urban space. Peripheries should therefore be considered relationally (Massey 1994) at the level of social space (Lefebvre 2013) and embodiment (Muršič 2006). 

The Periphery of Street Art and Street Art on the Periphery conference invites contributions on the world-systems theory (see Wallerstein 2004), both in terms of space–power relations and from the perspective of liminal, extra-institutional street art practises and their synergies with other conceptual approaches and body politics. On the one hand, the conference focuses on the (geographical) periphery of street art as a subpolitical, activist practice. On the other, the conference addresses street art on the periphery, e.g. in the field of non-heteronormative, queer and feminist street art, the emancipatory potential of street art media, and the transformation of street art into performative forms of expression, new media and intermedia formats.

The conference is open to approaches and studies ranging from the historical analysis of examples and manifestations of proto-street art, use and function of street art practices in subaltern political and social movements, to contributions exploring the role of street art in the (re)appropriation and marking of public space by subpolitical and subcultural groups, as well as the processes of co-optation of street art and thus its symbolic, aesthetic and commercial transfer from the urban peripheries to creative, artistic and urban centres.

We are looking for a variety of submissions, including creative responses, artists’ practice-based research, visual essays, and traditional scholarly papers.

Deadline for abstract submissions: 24 April 2022. 

Please send your abstract to info@inurb.si with the subject “SAC 2022” followed by your name. We will endeavour to review submissions and communicate decisions by 15 May 2022. 

The abstract (max. 300 words) should summarise the following: main idea/argument, conceptual framework, significance, and five keywords.

Format: We encourage a variety of submissions (with a maximum length of 10–20 minutes in delivery), including research papers and polemical essays, performances, case studies, videos, and online or in-room exhibitions of creative work. Papers accepted for Street Art Conference 2022 will be invited for publishing in the international journal SAUC – Street Art and Urban Creativity.

Venue: In-person at the Kino Šiška Centre for Urban Culture (Ljubljana, Slovenia) and virtually via stream on the Zoom platform. The online stream will integrate, when possible, online and face-to-face platforms.

About the Ljubljana Street Art Festival: Ljubljana Street Art Festival is the first international contemporary street art festival in Slovenia. Born from a passion for street art, graffiti, urban art, and art interventions in public spaces, Ljubljana Street Art Festival brings together international and local artists and scholars. It invites visitors to read the streets and participate in activities, and it also showcases young, emerging generations of street artists to ensure a bright future for one of the most important art movements of the 21st century. The organiser of the Ljubljana Street Art Festival is INURB, Institute for Urban Questions (Inštitut za urbana vprašanja). The co-producer of the festival is the Kino Šiška Centre for Urban Culture.

Contact: info@inurb.si

Organisers: Institute for Urban Questions & Kino Šiška Centre for Urban Culture.

REFERENCES

Lefebvre, Henri (1991) The Production of Space. Translated by Donald Nicholson-Smith. Oxford and Cambridge: Blackwell

Massey, D. (1994) Space, Place, and Gender. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Muršič, R. (2006) Nova paradigma antropologije prostora: prostorjenje in človeška tvornost. Glasnik SED 46(3-4), 48-54.

Wallerstein, I. (2004) World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.