This year marks the thirtieth instalment of the Visible Evidence Conference, the preeminent event for the global network dedicated to the study of documentary and nonfiction media culture. The conference has evolved into an international event, with editions held in locales such as New Delhi, Lancaster, New York, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Stockholm, Udine, and Gdansk. In 2024, the VE conference, organised by Monash University, is scheduled to take place in Melbourne, Australia, December 17-20th.
Taking the antipodean location of this year’s gathering as a provocation and impetus for thought, Visible Evidence XXX invites participants to reflect on the theme of “decentring.” The metaphor of decentring, whether in terms of vision, power, or perspective, is uniquely pertinent to the historical moment we find ourselves in. What are our investments in the geography of documentary production and circulation and what questions need to be asked about its assumed centres? What is to be gained from rethinking the existential centre away from the human and towards the environment or the posthuman in nonfiction screen culture? How are we grappling with the challenge to the centrality of visible evidence posed by artificial intelligence? Is it time to acknowledge the global re-centring of feminist documentary? The essay film has always engaged in processes of centring and decentring the self-how can we push this project forward? We believe the idea of decentring enables new approaches to a range of pressing issues.
We invite proposals for panels, workshops, and individual presentations.
These are only some of the questions that the conference wishes to explore to identify how shifting our perspective, even slightly, might raise different questions about how we perceive the present and past of documentary practice and culture. We hope it will help uncover new arenas of research and rethink established ones.
Proposals might address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
- Decentring documentary geography: centres of the South (Asia Pacific; South Pacific; Latin America)
- Centring First Nations knowledge/evidence
- Repositioning objectivity/subjectivity/authority in science and documentary
- Recentering feminism and documentary
- AI futures and the challenge to the centrality of visible evidence
- The existential centre: environment beyond anthropocentrism
- Decolonising documentary studies
- Decentring the archive and audio-visual preservation
- Decentring ethics of documentary
- Decentring the industry: independent and alternative documentary filmmaking
- Decentring the audiences: interactive and immersive documentary experiences and audiences’ engagement
- Decentring access: the impact of digital platforms and streaming services on the distribution of documentary films
- Decentring memory (public/private)
Submission portals will be open by the end of February.
Panels will consist of three papers of no more than 20 minutes each. Panel chairs will ensure that 20-30 minutes is available for questions and discussion following paper presentations.
- Panel proposals require a 300-word (max) description of the panel itself; 5 keywords that identify the panel’s focus; 200-word (max) descriptions of each individual paper; 5 bibliographic entries for each paper; and brief biographies of each participant. The chair of the panel should collect all of the material including mode of presentation and technical requirements for presentations.
Workshops will consist of between five and six opening statements, in which workshop leaders can present up to forty minutes collectively of prepared or informal material. However, the emphasis of workshops is on the open and unstructured exchange of ideas and techniques between all workshop participants, and topics suited to this format will be given priority.
- Workshop proposals require a 300-word (max) description of the workshop itself; 5 keywords that identify the workshop’s focus; 50-word (max) descriptions of each individual statement; and brief biographies of each participant. The chair of the panel should collect all of the material including mode of presentation and technical requirements for presentations.
Individual proposals for 20-minute papers may be submitted to open call.
- Individual paper proposals require a 300-word (max) description of the paper itself; 5 keywords that identify the paper’s focus; 5 bibliographic entries for the paper; and a brief biography of the participant; mode of presentation and technical requirements for the presentation.
Participants may present in a workshop or on a panel, but not both.
Mode of participation
The conference will be held mainly in person. For this reason, panel proposals shouldn’t have more than one presenter participating remotely and workshop panels no more than two. You are asked to specify upon submission the mode of participation of your choice. After the acceptance of the proposal, it will not be possible to switch from one mode to the other.
Deadline–All proposals are due by April 12th, 2024.
Submission portals will be open by the end of February.
Contact for enquiries (please note “VE24 query” in the email subject line):
Conference website & submission portal via : cstonline.netwww.visibleevidence.org/conference/visible-evidence-xxx/
