The NeoCraft conference has been designed with the objective of further developing critical thinking, theory and history in relation to the crafts. It is the intention of NeoCraft to not only acknowledge the vital role the crafts play in our culture and economy, but to challenge the position of craft by creating a forum for lively exchange and debate.

Modern Art has always been defined by the way it deals with material modernization. The next modern art will likewise address global modernization. As part of this process the crafts need to continually rethink their position. NeoCraft, the conference, will explore the possibility of craft practice that engages with the modernizing world. There are five conference themes:

• Crafts and Political Economy
• Cultural redundancy or the genre under threat
• Craft, the Senses, and New Technologies
• Global Craft
• Invention and tradition: Craft and the Utopian Ideal

Papers are sought for each of these strands. Abstracts of no more than 250 words, and a short (3page) curriculum vitae are due by OCTOBER 6, 2006. Please send your abstract and CV, or any queries, via e-mail to Sandra Alfoldy at saldol@yahoo.com or salfoldy@nscad.ca or by mail to the address below.

An international panel of referees will jury paper proposals and successful applicants will be notified by April 1, 2007. Proposals from graduate students and in either official language, are encouraged.