International Conference, Moesgaard Estate, University of Aarhus, DK, August 24 to 26, 2009

'I am kino-eye. I am a builder. I have placed you, whom I�ve created today, in an extraordinary room which did not exist until just now when I also created it.' (Dziga Vertov 1923)

Guest speakers:

- Professor George Marcus, University of California
- Pofessor Bruce Kapferer, University of Bergen
- Dr. Anna Grimshaw, Emory University
- Peter Crawford, University of Tromsø
- Jakob Høgel, Danish Film Institute
- Dr. Stuart McLean, University of Minnesota

This conference focuses on the topic of montage and its possibilities and limitations for moving beyond realist forms of representation in anthropology. In its conventional usage, montage refers to the juxtaposition of shots in the production of film. However, in addition to ethnographic film, this conference also addresses the use of montage in other forms of anthropological communication, such as writing, exhibition making, photography, and video installation. The questions to be explored are the following:

- When and how do particular montage juxtapositions of images, sounds, objects, and words challenge and enhance our perception and bring us new revelations of the socio-cultural worlds we inhabit?
- How may montage be applied to account for the invisible dimensions of human life, e.g., the invisible in vision, global economic forces, spiritual beings, and psychological conditions?
- What are the limitations of montage: which cuts and which kinds of montage work to reinforce rather than transcend stereotypes and commonsense perception?
- How can different anthropological media, such as film, writing, photography, sound and exhibition-making be combined through the principle of montage?
- How and in what ways can realist and radical constructivist forms of writing, film, and museum display be combined?
Ranging from polyphonic ethnography to non-linear evocative prose and abstract displacement of concepts, anthropological literature shows a rich tradition of experimentation with what may be characterized as cinematic forms of montage (Marcus 1994). A shared aim of these experiments was to upturn the authoritarian voice of the anthropological author along with its realist claim of offering a one-to-one correspondence between words and world. Similarly, disruptive montage installations or artistic collages have been used to break with the idea of museum display as a direct transmission of reality. In contrast to the display of objects as integrated parts of socio-cultural frameworks, or as props in the naturalist reconstruction of markets, homes, slums etc, the staging of artifacts in seemingly grotesque montage sceneries have aimed at creating 'verfremdung' effects to induce a more reflexive stance towards the worlds produced in museum displays (cf. Gonseth et. al. 2002). Likewise, ethnographic filmmakers have experimented with the creation of kino-fists and montage shocks, but in keeping with the realist ideals of observational cinema, most ethnographic filmmakers nevertheless still regard montage as something that is best minimised (Vaughan 1992, Kiener 2008). Rather than the virtual space-time of montage, the long observational take, which preserves natural duration and imitates ordinary perception, is appreciated for its potential to return our gazes to the particularities of everyday life and the transcultural commonalities of being human. Despite the experiments with various representational forms, realism, along with its model of truth as correspondence, is still a dominating principle � not only in film, but also in anthropological writing and museum work.

But realism has shortcomings that remain unresolved � especially when dealing with aspects of human life that are invisible. Such aspects include, quite concretely, the backsides of the objects that we perceive (e.g. the invisible in vision), but also, on a broader scale, our entanglement in global cultural and socio-economic processes as well as the impact of invisible spiritual beings that for many are considered as being on the same level of reality as the visible. The super-real view of montage and the gaps created in the juxtapositions of shots may provide ways of approaching the impact of these invisible dimensions of human reality (Marcus 1994, Kiener 2008). An additional form of invisibility, which may be accounted for through montage, is that invisible face of the Other, which Levinas (1999) argues lies hidden beneath the facial expressions on the forefront of the head. According to Levinas, we may address the otherness of the Other only to the extent that we maintain a fundamental separation of self and Other. If we agree with this argument, it follows that the disruption and dislodging of our commonsense vision must be a precondition for getting a feel for the irreducible being of Others. The deconstructive potential of montage to disrupt our tendency for attributing sameness to difference may be an essential tool in this regard (cf. Strathern 1988).

But where does this lead us? Should the realist correspondence criteria that continue to operate as the validating principle in much anthropological writing, exhibition- and filmmaking be altogether abandoned? Does disruptive montage provide a satisfying alternative? Obviously, realist aesthetics can also be used in the service of disrupting our commonsense perception. Likewise, montage does not necessarily always disrupt our perception, but may equally well be used to reinforce stereotypical understandings of self and others. The question of how to retain a sense of coherence on the one hand while making use of the disruptive effects of montage on the other still appears pivotal and unresolved (Marcus 1994). An aim of this conference, therefore, is to consider the possibilities of combining realist and radical constructivist forms of representation in anthropology.

Call for Abstracts (Deadline: May 1, 2009)

We welcome all presentations that relates to the issue of montage in anthropology. A presentation at the conference does not necessarily have to consist in a �paper� presentation but could also consist in presentation of film excerpts or a performance-based presentation relating to the issue of montage. If you wish to participate in the conference, please send your contact details along with an abstract of max. 300 words no later than May 1, 2009, to Christian Suhr (suhr@hum.au.dk). Final notification will be received before June 1, 2009.

PhD-workshop on Transcultural Montage, Moesgaard Estate, University of Aarhus, DK, August 27, 2009

Teachers: Dr. George Marcus and Dr. Bruce Kapferer
Place: Department of Anthropology and Ethnography, University of
Aarhus, Moesgaard 8270 Højbjerg
Max. number of participants: 10 PhD students

This PhD workshop is organized as part of the conference on "Transcultural Montage" (see above). The PhD workshop invites PhD students who incorporate or wish to incorporate montage principles into their research. PhD students will be asked to make a presentation (paper/film/performance/) of approximately 20 minutes followed by 20 minutes discussion time. Depending on the media format, either a paper or synopsis should be distributed in advance. Discussions will be led by two discussants: one being either Dr. Bruce Kapferer or Dr. George Marcus and the other one of the PhD participants.

If you wish to participate in the PhD workshop, please send your contact details along with an abstract of max. 300 words no later than May 1, 2009, to Christian Suhr (suhr@hum.au.dk). Final notification will be received before June 1, 2009. Papers (to be distributed among the participants) should be sent no later than August 1.

Please direct all enquiries to:

Rane Willerslev
Director of the Ethnographic Collections
Moesgaard Museum
Tel: +45 8942 4683 / +45 2398 2229
Email: etnorw@hum.au.dk

Christian Suhr Nielsen
Filmmaker and PhD Candidate
Department of Anthropology
University of Aarhus
Tel: +45 8942 4699 / +45 3160 0031
Email: suhr@hum.au.dk

Clinton Institute for American Studies, University College Dublin
25-27 June 2009

This conference will bring together scholars and practitioners in the fields of visual media and international relations to examine the roles of image producers and the functions of photographic imagery in the documentation and communication of wars, violent conflicts and human rights issues. The conference is the first major event of an international research project on this topic.

Speakers include:
Ariella Azoulay (Bar Ilan University), Thomas Keenan (Bard College), Liam Kennedy (University College Dublin), Paul Lowe (University of the Arts London/Panos Pictures), Sean Smith (The Guardian)

Papers might address one or more of the following topics:
* The histories and genres of photographic depictions of conflict
* The ethical and legal function of images as evidentiary representations of human suffering
*The role of new technologies and technological convergence in depicting conflict
* The visual economies that translate and regulate the value of images of conflict and suffering
* The role of humanitarian and cosmopolitan frameworks in Western genres of documentary photography
* The role of news organizations and NGOs in the global distribution of images
* The effects of imagery on government policy and NGO activity

Please submit a 300 word abstract by 30 April 2009 to Dr Caitlin Patrick, at Caitlin.Patrick@ucd.ie
For further details, see www.ucdclinton.ie

Paris, Musée du Quay Branly, 11 -12 March, 2009
organisers: Caterina Pasqualino (CNRS)
Arnd Schneider (University of Oslo)

Web Site

A major international symposium on the intersection between contemporary
art, anthropology, and performance, co-sponsored by the French-Norwegian
Research Foundation and CNRS.
Among the highlights are visual anthropologist Lucien Taylor, film-maker
Marthe Torshaug, artist (film-maker & photographer) Craigie Horsfield,
artists Miquel Barcelo and Barthélémy Togo, as well as anthropologist
George Marcus, and performance theorist Richard Schechner .

Curtis's Landmark 1914 Silent Film of Pacific Northwest First Nations Culture
Restored, Re-evaluated, and Framed with a Live Orchestral Arrangement of the Original Score and a Performance by Descendents of the Indigenous Cast
In 1914, famed photographer Edward S. Curtis produced a melodramatic, silent feature film entitled In the Land of the Head Hunters. An epic story of love, war, and ritual set before European contact, it featured non-professional actors from Kwakwaka�wakw (Kwakiutl) communities in British Columbia. The film had gala openings in New York and Seattle, where it was accompanied by a live orchestral score composed by John Braham. A financial failure, the film was quickly overlooked and barely preserved, although one copy was significantly reedited with a new soundtrack and released in 1974 as In the Land of the War Canoes; this is the only version that has been available until now.
The current project presents a fully restored copy of In the Land of the Head Hunters (with original intertitles, color tinting, and recently discovered footage), reunited with its original orchestral score as well as descendents of the original cast. The project revisits Curtis's work through a scholarly resuscitation of its initial form and historical contexts, combined with unique Kwakwaka�wakw perspectives on the original film, its specific cultural content, and its social context of production (when many of the ceremonies it depicts were outlawed in Canada).
Rather than documenting Native life in 1914, Head Hunters documents a moment of intercultural encounter between Curtis and the Kwakwaka'wakw who were performing a scripted version of their own past for the camera. The film truly represents an active, artistic collaboration between purveyors of two dramatic traditions: the rich Kwakwaka'wakw history of staged ceremonialism, and the then-emergent mass-market colossus of American narrative cinema. When resituated within the history of motion pictures and framed by current Kwakwaka�wakw views, this landmark film can be recast as visible evidence of ongoing cultural survival and transformation under shifting historical conditions. These perspectives shed new light on the origins of ethnographic cinema and the parameters of Indigenous modernities.
Please join us for events in Chicago, New York, and Washington DC in November 2008.
There will also be a Society for Visual Anthropology (SVA) Special Event screening and discussion of the restored film (with recorded score and no dancers) at the AAA meetings in San Francisco (Nov. 19-23, 2008).
For further information and event dates in 2008 and 2009, please visit: http://www.curtisfilm.rutgers.edu
- Aaron Glass (Bard Graduate Center/American Museum of Natural History), co-executive producer.

Paris, Musée de l'Homme - 14-20 NOVEMBER 2009

Presentation in English / Presentation en Français

CALL FOR PAPERS / CONTRIBUTIONS

The Comité du Film Ethnographique is organizing an International seven-days Conference to be held in Paris in November 2009. This Conference is to honor the scientific and cinematographic work of Jean Rouch, his founding father and leader.
Our purpose is to explore the many research works and investigations pursued to improve the imagetic languages for anthropology in the fields Jean Rouch has pioneered and initiated.
This call for contributions is open to filmmakers, critics, teachers, researchers, and students concerned with the different ways to experiment and to translate the "real" through various audiovisual languages.

Propositions have to focus on one of the chosen topics:
• The colonial ordeal and a contemporary's anthropology.
• The "real" as imaginary, the fiction tells the world.
• A shared anthropology.
• Direct cinema and a making of the "real".
• A new Anthropology, a today's anthropology.

Abstracts of 1500 characters maximum have to be sent electronically to the Comité du Film Ethnographique, together with the applicant information form, by September 15th 2008. The definitive programme will be set on November 1st, 2008. All accepted participants will be expected to submit a full draft of their paper (text and audiovisual documents for a 20 minutes maximum length) by 31st of May, 2009, to allow their circulation among Conference participants.

Please find attached the applicant information form and a detailed presentation of the Conference purpose, partners and proceeding.

Important Dates:
September 15, 2008; Deadline for abstracts
November 1st, 2008; Notification of acceptance
May 31st, 2009: Submission of Final Papers
September, 2009: Conference programme

Contact :
Comité du Film Ethnographique
Musée de l’Homme
17 place du Trocadéro – 75116 Paris – France
Tél. : 33 (0)1 40 79 36 82 - 33 (0)1 47 04 38 20
colloquejeanrouch@mnhn.fr
www.comite-film-ethno.net

The fourth Visual Delights Conference: Visual Empires will take place at the University of Sheffield between July 3-5, 2009.
Call for papers: Popular visual cultures have been central to the construction and propagation of imperial and colonial narratives and have helped define the nature of Empire. They have been intrinsically linked to discourses about the rise and fall of Imperial fortunes in the 19th and early 20th centuries and have been studied as both evidence of imperial attitudes to race and colonial subjects and as propaganda texts which helped spread and cement imperial and colonial ideologies. This conference seeks to explore this rich visual archive and to examine the roles played by popular visual culture in the construction of narratives concerning issues of race, identity, colonial and imperial ideologies, nationalism, patriotism and the ‘Visual Empire.’
We would like to receive suggestions for papers with deal with these issues in popular cultural forms such as photography, advertising, cinema, theatre, the magic lantern, ethnographic display and world’s fairs before 1930. Suggested themes could include:
Photography and constructions of ‘otherness’/Ethnographic display and racial identities/Advertising and imagined colonies/Cinema and the mapping of Empire/The Magic Lantern and the topography of Empire/Music hall and the patriotic show
Abstracts of no more than 500 words should be sent to Simon Popple @ s.e.popple@leeds.ac.uk or The Louis Le Prince Centre, The Institute of Communications Studies, The Houldsworth Building, The University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
The conference will be jointly hosted by the Louis Le Prince Centre, University of Leeds and the National Fairground Archive, University of Sheffield. It is held in conjunction with the Journal of Early Popular Visual Culture. http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/17460654.asp

New directions in visual anthropology and cross-cultural mediamaking.
This weeklong festival at Temple University engages the question, what next? in the arts and praxis of cultural representation. The festival includes screenings, lectures, and a daylong symposium of scholars and mediamakers. The event is free and open to the public.

Web Site and program