2025 CFP The CAA (College Art Association) 113th Annual Conference, New York City, February 12–15, 2025

Session Title: Reframing Madness: Arts at the Intersection of Mental Health and Mad Studies

https://caa.confex.com/caa/2025/webprogrampreliminary/Session14506.html

Session will present: On location (In-Person)

Chair: Velebita Koričančić, Anahuac University Mexico / National Autonomous University of Mexico


This session aims to reclaim and redefine 'madness', participating in broader efforts that challenge historical pejorative connotations associated with the term. It seeks to contribute to inclusivity by engaging in the academic and cultural discourse surrounding mental health. The goal is to examine madness at the intersection of art and mental health, across diverse cultures and periods, by integrating perspectives from the Mad Studies movement and disability studies.
Acknowledging the concerns about potentially romanticizing or trivializing mental health conditions in artistic expressions, which could detract from the actual challenges faced by vulnerable individuals and communities, the session frames madness as both a socio-cultural construct and first-person accounts communicated via art.
Contributions that research mental health portrayals in art, from historical to contemporary contexts, spanning various artistic movements and styles, and analyzing artworks created by individual artists and through community-led projects, are encouraged.

Key Topics:
Representations of Madness Throughout Art History
Decolonizing Madness in Art
Art in Psychiatric Care Settings: From Historical Asylum Art Through Art Therapy to Psychiatry Survivors’ Narratives
Mad Arts and Outsider Art
Art Historical Methodologies in Studying Madness
Neurodiversity and the Arts
Feminist and Queer Art Theories and Criticism on Gender-Specific Mental Health Conditions
Contemporary Arts and Explorations in Mental Health
Curatorial and Exhibition Practices Regarding Mad Arts
Responsibility and Artistic Freedom in Depictions of Mental Health
Art as an Agent for Mental Health Understanding and Advocacy

Keywords:
Topics: Disability
Topics: Multidisciplinary
Topics: Social Justice
Topics: Outsider Art
Topics: Art History


How to submit to a Session Soliciting Contributors:

https://www.collegeart.org/programs/conference
1. Have a CAA account. Membership not required at this step, if you aren't a member right now create an account at this link, skip the payment/joining step.
2. Prepare your Presentation title and Abstract (250 word limit)
3. A shortened CV (close to 2 pages).
4. (Optional) Images or Documentation of work; limit to five images that support your proposal.
5. Submissions due to session chairs by August 29, 2024
a) Chairs will notify submitters directly of their decision by September 16, 2024.
HOW TO SUBMIT: Video tutorial; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoQUI5UVyn8

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KEY DATES

July 22, 2024: Call for Participation (CFP) opens; chairs of accepted sessions solicit contributors to submit presentation proposals directly to them.

August 29, 2024: Deadline for CFP submissions.

September 16, 2024: Deadline for chairs of sessions soliciting contributors to make their decisions, directly notify their accepted presenters, and add to session entry.

Early October, 2024: Registration opens and conference schedule is announced.

December 5, 2024: Access accommodation requests for in-person and/or remote participants due to CAA.

February 12–15, 2025: CAA 113th Annual Conference