OLA and FADU-UBA, in collaboration with CEPAT and the institutional support of Fundación SES, seek to bring together knowledge and information about activities and thinking about how governments and civil society constructed their centennial commemorations and how they are now constructing their bicentennials. Submissions should focus on:
- 1. Documentation and interpretation of the different modes by which Latin American countries constructed their national centennial commemorations and how they left their mark on their respective cities and visual imagination. This can include the study of media, policies, projects, public works, social mobilization, official and civil society commemorations, cultural production, visual images and photography production and dissemination, and forms of urban transformation.
- 2. Documentation and interpretation of present preparations of the Bicentennials in these countries. This can include evidence in the above areas and other more contemporary activities related to new technologies such as videos, films, interactive projects, or internet applications.
- 3. Comparison of these themes between past and present and across American countries.
About the Submissions
Submissions could consist of two kinds: 1. academic papers that could include visual images; or 2. visual and multimedia digital presentations such as videos, power points or other digital media. All submissions should be in English, Spanish, or Portuguese.
Abstracts of up to 300 words should be sent, together with the application form, to ola@newschool.edu, cc. bicentenarios.fadu.uba@gmail.com by 27th, 2008 (LAST EXTENSION OF THE DEADLINE). Responses will be sent by email to authors of all submissions by June 30th, 2008.
Full papers should have a suggested length of between 4,000 and 7,000 words, plus images and captions.
Full visual and multimedia digital presentations should have a suggested duration of 5 to 15 minutes, with a minimum resolution of 720 x 480 (for NTSC) or 720 x 576 (for PAL). The following formats will be accepted: Flash (swf), PowerPoint (pps), DVD (vob, ifo, bup), SVCD, VCD, mpg, mp4, avi, mov. Other formats are subject to prior approval by the coordinators. Audiovisual presentations should be accompanied by a written description of no more than 1,000 words.
All final submissions (papers and digital presentations) should be received by September 29th, 2008.
Selection and dissemination papers and visual digital presentation: Awards and Honorable Mentions
In order to facilitate an exchange of knowledge about Latin American Bicentennials, an independent jury of scholars, on behalf of OLA and FADU-UBA, will select presentations and papers to receive awards, honorable mentions, and website publication from among the final submissions.
Distinctions include:
- 5 Awards: to the authors (one per paper/presentation) of the most distinguished works, to participate in an international conference to be held at the New School University, New York (February 26-27, 2009). These works will be included in the forthcoming edited book Construir Bicentenarios Latinoamericanos.
- 7 Honorable Mentions: to authors whose works are to be included in the forthcoming edited book Construir Bicentenarios Latinoamericanos.
- Other works chosen as representative of the diversity of submissions will be published on the websites of OLA and the Programa Bicentenarios at FADU-UBA.
Calendar and Deadlines
- 27th, 2008 (LAST EXTENSION OF THE DEADLINE) – Deadline for submission of abstracts.
- June 30th, 2008 – Responses will be sent to authors of all submissions.
- September 15th, 2008 – Final date for inquires and consultations with the organizers regarding submissions.
- September 29th, 2008 – Deadline for final submissions.
- November 28th, 2008 – Publication of the results of the jury’s selection process on the websites of OLA and the Programa Bicentenarios at FADU-UBA, and contact with those chosen to participate in the international conference at the New School University in New York.
- February 26th-27th, 2009 – International conference “Building Latin American Bicentennials in the Age of Globalization,” New School University, New York.
- 2009-2010 – Publication of the book. Publication of selected representative works on the websites of OLA and the Programa Bicentenarios at FADU.
By submitting work for consideration, participants agree to the rules of the Call for Submissions
For any questions please contact:
Bart Orr (English) and Valeria Luzardo (Spanish)
ola@newschool.edu
Coordinators: Building Latin American Bicentennials in the Age of Globalization
Ileana Versace (Spanish or Portuguese)
bicentenarios.fadu.uba@gmail.com
Coordinadora Programa Bicentenarios FADU UBA
Background
The bicentennial commemorations of national independence in Latin America, especially Argentina, Chile, and Mexico in 2010, and seven other countries in the next 15 years, offer an excellent opportunity for comparative and multidisciplinary research on how governments and civil society in these countries are constructing their bicentennial commemorations and how they will use this historical moment to address urgent issues of social inclusion and institutional reform.
The Observatory on Latin America (OLA) of the New School and the Programa Bicentenarios, of the Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo, Universidad de Buenos Aires (FADU-UBA), are launching a research project: Building Latin American Bicentennials in the Age of Globalization.
As part of this project, the OLA and FADU, in collaboration with CEPAT and the institutional support of SES, are issuing a Call for Submissions of Papers and Visual Presentations to the Ibero-American and English-speaking scholarly community and to civil society. Our intention is to issue a wide call for attention to this topic in the hope that it will stimulate thinking and action with regard to the respective bicentennials in Latin American countries, as well as communication and interaction among peoples within the region.
In 2004, the Latin American Bicentennial Project team of the New School created an initial database on bicentennial activities and published a volume edited by Margarita Gutman, Construir Bicentenarios: Argentina, in 2005 on the meaning of commemoration and specific proposals for discussion during the Argentine Bicentennial (http://www.argentinaobservatory.org). Some 10,000 copies of this book were printed, and thousands have been sold in Argentina and elsewhere in Latin America. An important message of this book is that the Bicentennial should be an inclusive social process and not a single official event. This work has been further extended by the Programa Bicentenarios of FADU-UBA, which has developed a directory of 90 bicentennial activities in Argentina and elsewhere (www.bicentenarios.edu.ar).
Read more about the Building Bicentennials Program
