[spectre] CfP: Digital Memory and Techno-nostalgia

[Maria Chatzichristodoulou]

Hi John and Spectres

I agree with you that not many artists would be prepared to do so. I think it is very sad that academic conferences tend to exclude people with no academic affiliation / income that would allow them to pay the registration fee. The conferences, in my view, are poorer and more homogenous as a result.

On the other hand, most often, in my experience, those conferences just cover their costs (in today's institutional contexts, where institutions charge themselves/their staff for use of space, equipment and support). Institutions that organise them take a risk in that sometimes even costs are not fully covered. Academics involved take on extra work without additional remuneration and there is often a feeling that we make those conferences happen through personal investment. 

Specifically, TaPRA is a UK national conference encourages students to engage, so there is normally a small number of bursaries that non-affiliates/students can apply for. Many conferences now also offer different rates for affiliated /non affiliated delegates, which seems fair. Can I also add that affiliated delegates sometimes don't get their expenses covered either, as Institutions are becoming tighter in handling such costs.You'll also find that arts and humanities academic conferences such as this are generally more affordable than high-tech, industry-related events. 

I can assure you though that, within the context of our constraints in this particular event, we do engage with a community of creative people - pseudo-creativity is not, generally, our domain. Also that, both myself personally and TaPRA as an organisation, we develop different types of conferences and gatherings, some of which are free or very affordable. TaPRA working groups tend to have annual interim events that are of shorter duration and tend to cost £0-25. 

Best wishes
Maria


Dr Maria Chatzichristodoulou

Lecturer in Performance and New Media
Programme Leader MA by Research & PhD in Theatre and Performance
Disability, Equality and Diversity Tutor
School of Drama, Music and Screen
University of Hull

Room: Loten L104
Cottingham Road
Hull, HU6 7RX, UK

T. +44 (0) 1482 465076

http://www2.hull.ac.uk/fass/drama.aspx



________________________________________
From: John Hopkins [jhopkins at tech-no-mad.net]
Sent: Sunday, April 12, 2015 3:26 PM
To: spectre at mikrolisten.de
Subject: Re: [spectre] CfP: Digital Memory and Techno-nostalgia

> same proposal to several Calls for Papers. All presenters must be TaPRA
> members, i.e. registered for the conference; this includes presentations
> given by Skype or other media broadcast even where the presenter may not
> physically attend the conference venue. If your paper has been accepted, yet
> you have not registered for the Conference by the final registration deadline
> of 14 August 2015, we will deem you no longer intend to participate and
> present at TaPRA 2015.

A note of further exclusion in the language of subtle brutality: pay to play.
How many working 'performance artists' not firmly attached to institutional life
-- academic or otherwise -- will find there to be a distinct imbalance between
forking over cash and the 'opportunity' for sharing their experiences?
Personally I would rather forego the price of institutionalization and instead
share freely in unstrictured encounters with those who would do the same.
Nothing personal against the convenors, but it's sad how rigid the steps to
social 'viability' have become within a meta-miasma of pseudo-creativity: the
very definition of artifice...


--
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dr. John Hopkins, BSc, MFA, PhD
grounded on a granite batholith
twitter: @neoscenes
http://tech-no-mad.net/blog/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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