Call for
Papers
Art & Place Conference
Saarbrücken 2025
An opportunity to showcase investigations and discussions about art in public space — including street art, contemporary art and graffiti.
Topic of the call
The Art & Place Conference welcomes papers about art that relates to places.
This includes all forms of art in public space, whether it be graffiti, uncommissioned street art, official public art or land art — and whether the result is typically framed as street culture, contemporary art, folk art, outsider art or activism.
“Place” refers here to a physical public setting, whether it be urban or rural, in scales ranging from a corner to a whole city or a geographic area. “Place” refers also to the human and social experience around a physical public setting. Both of these dimensions evolve over time until a setting becomes a different place.
Focus of the call
The different art practices within the scope of Art & Place relate to their contexts in different ways. Street art can subtly integrate into a surface, while graffiti will often take over it. Public and land art are often permanent and deployed from above, while furtive art is necessarily human-scale and ephemeral.
The Art & Place Conference aims to lay out these different approaches in a shared conversation where common ground and fruitful feedback can be found.
Scope of the call
The Art & Place Conference welcomes papers about the topics described above, whether focused on a particular artwork, a series of artworks, an artist, collective, school, scene, city, area, country or era.
Although open to all forms of art in public space, this Call for Papers specifically hopes to shed light upon two segments of that wider field, both closely related to street art yet seldom discussed in the same conversation.
One is the wide range of artists from the sphere of contemporary art who have worked on lightweight, ephemeral, small-scale, site-specific, performative and often furtive forms of public art. For example Daniel Buren, Ernest Pignon-Ernest, Harald Naegeli, Jenny Holzer or Francis Alÿs.
The second is what could be called “outsider public art”, produced furtively by artists wholly unrelated to the spheres of graffiti, street art and contemporary art. For example Tsang Tsou-choi, Alain Rault, Arthur Stace, Profeta Gentileza, Melina Riccio or the Toynbee Tiler.
This opening instalment of the Art & Place Conference takes place in conjunction with the exhibition “Illegal: Street Art Graffiti 1960–1995”, on view at Historical Museum Saar. In keeping with the scope of the exhibition, this call is particularly interested in papers covering topics within the exhibition’s timeframe.
Applicant profiles
This Call for Papers is open to PhD students and scholars, yet it explicitly encourages applications from non-scholars. We aim to showcase the work of researchers who operate without institutional support — published or unpublished authors, professional or non-professional photographers, rogue archivists, and independent experts who publish their work on blogs, websites and social media.
Timeline
— Call for Papers deadline: 20th January.
— Notification of accepted papers: 10th February.
— Conference: 1st—4th May. Lectures will take place on May 2nd and 3rd.
Abstract submission
— Participation in the conference is free of charge.
— Abstracts must be written in English. Lectures will be delivered in English.
— Abstracts must be 1500 characters (about 250 words) or shorter in length.
— This call will consider any alternative presentation format such as panel debates, artist discussions, readings, photography or video.
Thank you for your application, we hope to welcome you in Saarbrücken.
From the prism of Art & Place, a public artwork is effective when it relates effectively to its context. The Art & Place Conference is interested in papers that explore this kind of art and shed light upon its inner workings.
How did the place inspire the art? How did the art adapt to the place? How did the art change the place? Did the place change the art over time?
Was the relation between art and space fruitful at artistic, human or social levels? Was it detrimental? Are there any revealing contrasts or parallels to other cases?
What can be learned from these questions regarding art, urban and rural environments, and how artists, dwellers and passers-by relate to them?
Call for Papers
Art & Place Conference
Saarbrücken 2025
An opportunity to showcase investigations and discussions about art in public space — including street art, contemporary art and graffiti.
From the prism of Art & Place, a public artwork is effective when it relates effectively to its context. The Art & Place Conference is interested in papers that explore this kind of art and shed light upon its inner workings.
How did the place inspire the art? How did the art adapt to the place? How did the art change the place? Did the place change the art over time?
Was the relation between art and space fruitful at artistic, human or social levels? Was it detrimental? Are there any revealing contrasts or parallels to other cases?
What can be learned from these questions regarding art, urban and rural environments, and how artists, dwellers and passers-by relate to them?
Topic of the call
The Art & Place Conference welcomes papers about art that relates to places.
This includes all forms of art in public space, whether it be graffiti, uncommissioned street art, official public art or land art — and whether the result is typically framed as street culture, contemporary art, folk art, outsider art or activism.
“Place” refers here to a physical public setting, whether it be urban or rural, in scales ranging from a corner to a whole city or a geographic area. “Place” refers also to the human and social experience around a physical public setting. Both of these dimensions evolve over time until a setting becomes a different place.
Focus of the call
The different art practices within the scope of Art & Place relate to their contexts in different ways. Street art can subtly integrate into a surface, while graffiti will often take over it. Public and land art are often permanent and deployed from above, while furtive art is necessarily human-scale and ephemeral.
The Art & Place Conference aims to lay out these different approaches in a shared conversation where common ground and fruitful feedback can be found.
Scope of the call
The Art & Place Conference welcomes papers about the topics described above, whether focused on a particular artwork, a series of artworks, an artist, collective, school, scene, city, area, country or era.
Although open to all forms of art in public space, this Call for Papers specifically hopes to shed light upon two segments of that wider field, both closely related to street art yet seldom discussed in the same conversation.
One is the wide range of artists from the sphere of contemporary art who have worked on lightweight, ephemeral, small-scale, site-specific, performative and often furtive forms of public art. For example Daniel Buren, Ernest Pignon-Ernest, Harald Naegeli, Jenny Holzer or Francis Alÿs.
The second is what could be called “outsider public art”, produced furtively by artists wholly unrelated to the spheres of graffiti, street art and contemporary art. For example Tsang Tsou-choi, Alain Rault, Arthur Stace, Profeta Gentileza, Melina Riccio or the Toynbee Tiler.
This opening instalment of the Art & Place Conference takes place in conjunction with the exhibition “Illegal: Street Art Graffiti 1960–1995”, on view at Historical Museum Saar. In keeping with the scope of the exhibition, this call is particularly interested in papers covering topics within the exhibition’s timeframe.
Applicant profiles
This Call for Papers is open to PhD students and scholars, yet it explicitly encourages applications from non-scholars. We aim to showcase the work of researchers who operate without institutional support — published or unpublished authors, professional or non-professional photographers, rogue archivists, and independent experts who publish their work on blogs, websites and social media.
Timeline
— Call for Papers deadline: 20th January.
— Notification of accepted papers: 10th February.
— Conference: 1st—4th May. Lectures will take place on May 2nd and 3rd.
Abstract submission
— Participation in the conference is free of charge.
— Abstracts must be written in English. Lectures will be delivered in English.
— Abstracts must be 1500 characters (about 250 words) or shorter in length.
— This call will consider any alternative presentation format such as panel debates, artist discussions, readings, photography or video.
Thank you for your application, we hope to welcome you in Saarbrücken.
© Unlock Bureau 2025
Art & Place Conference 2025 is produced by Unlock Bureau and wissensART Foundation
Support: Historical Museum Saar, HBKsaar State Academy of Arts, Kino Achteinhalb, Filmhaus Saarbrücken, Saarland University, Völklinger Hütte UNESCO World Heritage Site, Unlock Book Fair, Automat, Le Grand Jeu, Le Lieu Documentaire
What is Art & Place?
Lecture program
Film program
Unlock Book Showcase
Museum tours
Völklinger Hütte tours
Resident artist
Guest curator
Art & Place Magazine
Call for Papers (closed)
© Unlock Bureau 2025
Art & Place Conference 2025 is produced by Unlock Bureau and wissensART Foundation
Support: Historical Museum Saar, HBKsaar State Academy of Arts, Kino Achteinhalb, Filmhaus Saarbrücken, Saarland University, Völklinger Hütte UNESCO World Heritage Site, Unlock Book Fair, Automat, Le Grand Jeu, Le Lieu Documentaire
