conferences

The expe­ri­ence of sover­eignty can be a group’s right to self-deter­mi­na­tion, an individual’s claim to self-empow­er­ment, or a state’s rule over other peoples. The produc­tion and assertion of sovereign power through visual means have been central to the formation of art and culture from the construc­tion of burial sites, stamping of currency, forging of metal jewelry, and construc­tion of agrarian and urban settle­ments. In turn, the rise of ​“sover­eignty” as a termi­nol­ogy, coined in the four­teenth century and developed as a tenet of inter­na­tional law in the seven­teenth century following the Treaty of Westphalia, is imbri­cated in the history of modern colo­nial­ism, and is central to the rise of the nation state, the formation of art history as a disci­pline and its accom­pa­ny­ing insti­tu­tions – the univer­sity and the museum. Sovereign power can be exploited to create states of exception and exclusion while the claiming of sover­eignty can also be necessary to reclaim­ing power over self-repre­sen­ta­tion, as demon­strated in Indigenous movements and anti­colo­nial resistance.

The 2029 CIHA Mexico City theme of ​“Sovereignty” takes up crucial questions of state power and its legit­i­ma­tion, inter­na­tional law, visual strate­gies to create commu­ni­ties of belonging and exclusion, and the central role of visual regimes to normalize concepts of dispos­ses­sion, private property, public space, and privacy. In calling for papers and sessions that engage with ​“sover­eignty” we aim to neither celebrate nor denounce but instead power­fully inter­ro­gate the long history of power and repre­sen­ta­tion, and its inter­sec­tion with different codes of law, govern­ment, territory, and state across time and space. ​“Sovereignty” as a theme addresses political terms of urgent interest for contem­po­rary debates while simul­ta­ne­ously speaking broadly to histor­i­cally and geograph­i­cally diverse periods and cultures. This term is meant to open up possi­bil­i­ties as well as problems and chal­lenges for the explo­ration of art histor­i­cal questions from all eras and across geogra­phies and media.

At present we have iden­ti­fied the following sub-themes to suggest some direc­tions for the intel­lec­tual content of the program: Indigeneity, Dispossession and Repatriation, Sovereignty before the State, Resistance, Bodily Sovereignty, Representation, Territories, Jurisdiction, Fluidity and Fixity, Technologies, Surveillance.

Mexico City as the political and cultural capital of Mexico, is a para­dig­matic site for such a discus­sion, and CIHA 2029’s US-Mexico part­ner­ship is intended to both ground the confer­ence in the larger conver­sa­tion of sover­eignty in North America but also foster a global debate about the history of sover­eignty and its contem­po­rary config­u­ra­tions. It can be taken up in relation to indi­vid­ual works of art or formal strate­gies, or theo­ret­i­cally in terms of char­ac­ter­iz­ing movements or groups, or histor­i­cally as part of the dynamics between authority, community, and indi­vid­ual agency. We aim for the political valence of the theme to provide an oppor­tu­nity for an inter­na­tional community to clarify the many interests at stake histor­i­cally and globally in sover­eignty and its artistic legacies and futures.

Note: A call for sessions will be issued in Winter 2027.

The CAA Annual Conference is the largest convening of art histo­ri­ans, artists, designers, curators, and visual arts profes­sion­als. Each year sessions offered are submitted by members, commit­tees, and affil­i­ated societies that deliver a wide range of program content. 

Paper proposals for the NCHA-sponsored session, ​“Sovereignty, art, and the cultural collec­tive” will be accepted through August 31, 2026 via the CAA website here.

The CAA Annual Conference is the largest convening of art histo­ri­ans, artists, designers, curators, and visual arts profes­sion­als. Each year sessions offered are submitted by members, commit­tees, and affil­i­ated societies that deliver a wide range of program content. 

This year, the National Committee will dedicate its annual session to ​“Sovereignty and the Built Environment.” Papers will explore places in the ancient Mediterranean world, early modern South Asia, and Ojibwe territory strad­dling what is now the Canada-US border in the nine­teenth century. The session will take place on Friday, February 20 from 4:30 – 6pm in the Waldorf Room, Hilton Chicago.

The College Art Association Annual Conference is the largest inter­na­tional gathering of profes­sion­als in the visual arts. The program is filled with oppor­tu­ni­ties to join more than 250 stim­u­lat­ing sessions and meetings on a wide range of topics on art schol­ar­ship and practice; to engage in in-depth discus­sions on new schol­ar­ship, inno­v­a­tive art, and issues in the arts today; and to connect with colleagues from across the country and around the world.