Dead Matter and Animated Materials in Art
RACAR special issue to be published October 2027
This special issue of RACAR, originally based on a series of panels at the CIHA congress in Lyon but wishing to broaden the sessions’ chronological and geographical scope, seeks to explore the complexities of life and death in the imaginaire associated with the different material components of artworks. We are specifically interested in including contributions about non-European and Indigenous cultures. This issue will also probe how the frequent depictions of life’s end, be it through violent death or in peaceful departure, interacted with the material choices (or constraints) of artists.
We are soliciting written (maximum 7,500 words, including notes) and creative contributions (maximum 10 images and 1,000 words, including notes). Articles will be submitted for peer review.
Proposals for contributions can be sent to Itay Sapir (sapir.itay@uqam.ca) and Joana Barreto (joana.barreto@univ-lyon2.fr) before November 1, 2025. They should include a title followed by an abstract (300 words max.), a short biography (100 words max.) and a 1 page CV. If proposing an account of practice, please include 2–5 images with your pitch.