The conference will explore a number of key issues in art discourses today and also address a central concern of the HRC's theme in invoking the idea of world-making beyond cultural divides and instead, speaking ‘to a domain of human connectivity’. We seek to explore the significance of connectivities and differences in the field of art: its practices, histories, institutions, inclusions and exclusions, ethical concerns and theoretical and methodological approaches under the overarching theme of ‘the World and World-Making’. While much of the focus of the conference will inevitably be on contemporary transformations resulting in part from globalization and geopolitical changes in our world, including migrations and transnational movements of people and art as well as new means of human connectivity and cultural exchange, we also welcome papers that address historical dimensions of the theme of ‘the World and World-Making in Art’.

The conference will be organized around 4 key sub themes:

1) World-Making and the concept of ‘Global Art’: Connectivities and Differences
2) Cosmopolitanism
3) Crossing Borders: artists, institutions, exhibitions and audiences
4) Indigenous World-Making in art