easa

Call for Laboratories

The Call for Laboratories is now open and closes at 23:59 GMT/WEST on 21 March 2022

EASA2022 in Belfast will be a hybrid conference. This means that delegates can choose between in-person (face to face) or virtual (online) participation.

The EASA2022 Laboratories programme will provide spaces and opportunities to explore the theme of Transformation, Hope and the Commons in sessions that differ from the usual conference format of 20-minute papers. As in previous EASA conferences, Lab organisers will facilitate experimentation, open-ended engagement and interdisciplinary dialogue. Rather than exhibiting already finished products or performances, the aim is to encourage collective creative research activities that, crucially, cultivate possibilities for surprise, novelty and learning. As such, Laboratories allow for engaged reflection on the embodiment and politics of knowledge production, the sensorial character of experience, and the affective dimensions of creative research.

Laboratories may test ethnographic and other methods, develop innovative transdisciplinary approaches, and offer workshops in which the participants are stimulated to experiment with a variety of expressive forms, from mapping and music to poetry and VR technology. Activities may include sound improvisation, dance, body painting, illustration, photography, storytelling and numerous other processes of making. Labs may also experiment with a variety of techniques, technologies and devices, such as meditation, ritual practices, sign language, long-distance communication equipment and digital media.

Since the conference will have a hybrid format, the Laboratories programme will include both face-to-face and virtual Labs. Virtual Labs may require pre-registration and some preparation from pre-registered participants. For the on-site Labs, the conference has access to various facilities, including the Ulster Museum, and at Queen’s University, the Sonic Arts Research Centre, Brian Friel Theatre and the Harty Room.

• https://www.nmni.com/our-museums/ulster-museum/Ulster-Museum-Were-Ready-For-You/Ulster-Museum-Were-Ready-For-You.aspx
• https://www.qub.ac.uk/sarc/facilities/soniclab/
• https://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/BrianFrielTheatre/
• https://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/ael/Discover/facilities/concertvenues/

Lab convenors are invited to devise sessions in experimental formats involving collaborative activities. Each Lab will be a 105-minute session and can be convened by individuals or collectives. Labs do not need to be confined to rooms or digital spaces, and can take place outside during day and nighttime. Belfast has distinctive architectural features, parks, streets, dividing and connecting walls, murals and statues, and docks and riversides that can all provide productive sites for Lab activities. When choosing a location outside the university area, please be aware that the distance to the main conference venue may influence the number of participants you will be able to attract.

Lab proposals

To convene a Lab, please submit a proposal through the online system.

Proposals should provide:

• a title for the Lab
• an indication if the Lab is virtual or in situ
• preference of location
• the name/s and email address/es of the Lab convenor/s
• a short abstract (fewer than 300 characters)
• a long abstract (fewer than 250 words)

The long abstract should outline the Lab's requirements, e.g. technical and material requirements. Please indicate the maximum number of participants for your Lab to run effectively, and also what participants will need (if anything) during the Lab activity. It is possible to limit the number of participants through pre-registration (i.e. the convenors of the lab add the link to a Google form or something similar to their long abstract to gather pre-registration data).

To propose a Lab, click here

Lab programme convenor
Maruška Svašek (Queen’s University Belfast)