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CfP: Caribbean Carnival Cultures

Date

Call for Papers - Caribbean Carnival Cultures

The Centre for Culture and the Arts at Leeds Beckett University in partnership with Leeds West Indian Carnival will be hosting an international conference on Caribbean Carnival Cultures on 19 – 21 May, 2017.

This conference will coincide with the fiftieth year of the Leeds West Indian Carnival, the oldest Caribbean-style street carnival in Europe, created and led by British Caribbeans. The keynote speaker for the conference will be internationally renowned Trinidadian Carnival Playwright, Screenwriter, Actor and Director Tony Hall.

The conference will bring together researchers, participants, costume designers, musicians, filmmakers and founder members of the Caribbean carnival in the UK and internationally to gather in Leeds to showcase and analyse the phenomenal people’s art of carnival.

Call for Papers

The Centre for Culture and the Arts is open to ideas and suggestions regarding contributions for the conference. These may take the form (but are not limited to) papers, panels, workshops and exhibitions. The exact structure of the conference will be shaped by the following topics. We are particularly interested in discussing the exceptional fusion of art, politics, pleasure and play that carnival represents. Some of the key areas we hope to cover are:

  • The relationship between carnival and diasporic identities.
  • The cultural history of Caribbean carnival in the UK.
  • Carnival and the politics of emancipation and practices of resistance.
  • Transcultural relationships between UK and global Caribbean carnivals.
  • Carnival and the body.
  • Carnival as a site for conviviality, pleasure and social cohesion.
  • The commercialisation of carnival.
  • Intergenerational relationships and carnival practices.

We invite submissions of abstracts of no more than 250 words for suggested papers, panels, workshops or exhibitions. Abstracts are welcomed from all disciplines and can address the themes outlined above, but we also welcome proposals that fall outside the list of topics. Complete panels should consist of a minimum of three and a maximum of four presenters. Academic presentations will be 20 minutes long. Abstracts should be submitted along with a short bio of no more than 150 words to Danielle Hall, Conference Administrator at d.hall@leedsbeckett.ac.uk by 1 June 2016.

We look forward to hearing from you and coming together in celebration of international Caribbean carnival cultures.

Best Wishes

Dr Emily Zobel Marshall and Professor Max Farrar.