Call for Papers: The 12th International Conference on the Histories of Media Art, Science and Technology

The 12th International Conference on the Histories of Media Art, Science and Technology will take place in Helsinki and Espoo in 2027 with the theme: “RE: CONNECT — Universe of Images: The Global North Meets the Global South.”

In a radically destabilized and increasingly multipolar world, shaped by geopolitical tensions, climate crises, eroding democracies, and shifting global alliances, re:connecting seems more urgent than ever. Rather than signalling a simple return or restitution, the “Re-:” in the conference theme names a critical reworking of relational structures across histories shaped by colonialism, technological dependency, multilingual exchange, and uneven access to cultural and computational infrastructures.

Continuing the tradition of the MAH conference series, MAH 2027 engages a growing community of scholars from a range of disciplines including art history, contemporary art practice, art theory, history of science and technology, media studies, image science, visual studies, philosophy, cultural studies, anthropology, architecture theory, sound studies, and computer science, among others, to develop and share new research and scholarship at the intersecting fields of the histories of media art, science and technology. MAH 2027 is shaped by collaboration across Helsinki and Espoo’s academic, artistic, and cultural institutions. Bringing together universities, museums, and media art organizations, the conference will be situated within a vibrant ecology of artistic research, technological experimentation, and interdisciplinary exchange.

MAH 2027 aims to open new dialogues between the so-called Global North and Global South in the areas of media art, research, and technology. With the topical notion “Universe of Images,” it addresses the multiplicity of images and their histories. Rather than searching for one “just image,” MAH 2027 turns toward the plurality of “just images:” imagery that is situated, translated, contested, preserved, refused, or reactivated across distinct cultural and technological contexts. Comprehensive attempts at coordinating and relating incompatibilities and incongruencies are more valuable than ever.

With “Universe of Images” as a trigger and entry point, the conference will address the complex ways in which meaning and perception are mediated in contemporary media cultures, where media technologies have evolved beyond human scale and perspective. In terms of media art, digital culture and its research, this implies a cluster of challenges and future perspectives–and a heightened need to reconnect with the invaluable resources of multilocal traditions.

We invite participants to address and challenge these concerns from the perspective of their disciplines, guided by the following subthemes: 

Media art histories across the so-called Global North and Global South
• alternative modernities and uneven histories of technological development
• postcolonial, decolonial, and non-aligned media art histories

Equal and sustainable media structures locally and globally
• multilingualism, translation, and transcultural media practices
• diasporic networks, queer and feminist internationalisms, and transnational alliances
• mediatechnological mechanisms of governance

Images in the era of technological transition
• histories of vision and its prostheses e.g. machine vision, algorithmic perception, and synthetic visual culture
• the technological unconscious, distributed cognition and artistic thinking 
• preservation and archiving of media art

For full details please visit https://www.uniarts.fi/en/events/mah2027/