AnimaScapes: Animation and Beyond, 8-9 Nov 2021

Event Description

Understanding the need to relate practice with reflection and theory, the festival will join the growing number of animation events that invite practitioners and scholars to engage with animation from different perspectives and address contemporary issues.

The Festival + Symposium format will allow animators to immerse themselves in the current discursive trends and scholars to watch and appraise the latest animation productions.

With this event the organization of the symposium aims to provide a platform for the development of the animation research community in Portugal, while engaging with the Society of Animation Studies (SAS) strategy to support and enhance a network among the international animation community.

Call for Presentations

The first edition of the animaScapes symposium will seek to expand knowledge of the relationship between animation practice, theory and activism, broadly defined as the set of actions whose goal is to bring about social change.

Participatory methods and social engagement have always held an important place in animation. Since its creation, animation has reflected society and its times, demonstrating new technologies and scientific facts, often combining it as entertainment for the wider public.

The historical avant-gardes also experimented with animation from its early days, challenging prevailing attitudes and proposing change. All this suggests that social engagement is to be found at the heart of the medium.

We invite animation researchers and practitioners to propose 15 to 20 minutes presentations or panel proposals (90 minutes) replying to the broad question: What is the role and relevance of animation in the current climate of uncertainty we live in?

We welcome theoretical and practical presentations on animation that reflect on and promote change in society, from an historical, contemporary or visionary perspective.
 
Proposed topics can also include, but are not restricted to:

- animation as a socially engaged art practice
- animation and gender issues
- animation practice against discrimination
- animation and globalization
- animation and city space
- methodologies for social engagement in animation
- animation as a tool for decolonization
- documentary / non-fictional animation
- animation and journalism
- animation and therapy
- animation as and in performance
- animation in socially-engaged video games
- historical perspectives of activist animation
- animation education and Educational animation
- animation as a (Deleuzian) war machine
- animation within the aesthetic regime of art (Rancière)
- animation collectives and their production

Materials for Proposals

Individual Proposals
Proposals for 15-20 minute presentations must include:

- an abstract of no more than 500 words and three keywords,
- a short biography of no more than 200 words
- an identifying photograph.
- presenters should also indicate if they will be attending the symposium in person, subject to pandemic travel restrictions at the time of the event

Proposals for Panel Sessions
- presentations in panel sessions should share a similar theme,
- panel sessions should consider 3 or 4 presenters
Panel proposals for sessions 90 minutes in length must include:

- an abstract of no more than 750 words and three keywords
- indication of the structure of the panel
- name of chair and of speakers
- title of the papers to be presented1
- short bio sketches of each participant of no more than 200 words
- an identifying photograph of each speaker
- presenters should also indicate if the presenters will be attending the symposium in person, subject to pandemic travel restrictions at the time of the event

The 1st edition will take place in a hybrid format, both in presence and virtually. Organizers will support in-presence participation whenever possible but will also accommodate virtual presentations. There is no participation cost.  The presentation proceedings will be published online on a special animaScapes 2021 dedicated website.

• Send proposals to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Deadline: 15 Sep 2021

See also: Cinanima Festival