Deadline: Mar 31, 2018
Call for Article Proposals
Abramtsevo and Its Legacies: Neo-National Art, Craft and Design
The 2019 edition (Issue 25) of the scholarly journal Experiment: A Journal of Russian Culture (Brill; Editor-in-Chief: John E. Bowlt; Series Editor: Mark Konecny) will be on the subject of “Abramtsevo and Its Legacies: Neo-National Art, Craft and Design”.
In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in the neo-national movement (otherwise described as the ‘Neo-Russian style’, ‘National Romantic’ or ‘Arts and Crafts’) in Russian art, a broad-reaching cultural phenomenon of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The importance of Neo-Nationalism stems from its place at the intersection of the two most important ideological and intellectual trends of the late Imperial era — the upsurge of national sentiment, which began during the reign of Nicholas I and intensified during the nineteenth century, and the advent of Modernism, which emerged over a similar period and transcended national boundaries. The formation of the Abramtsevo artistic circle, under the stewardship of the patron Savva Mamontov in the early 1880s, is generally considered to mark the beginnings of the movement; this journal issue seeks to deepen and challenge previous understandings and interpretations, and showcase recent research.
The guest editors, Louise Hardiman and Ludmila Piters-Hofmann, invite proposals for journal articles, which will present new material on the following, or closely related, topics:
– the ‘Neo-National’ movement in Russian art, craft, material culture, and design;
– the history of the artistic circles at Abramtsevo, Talashkino and other centers for the Neo-National movement;
– artists closely associated with the Neo-National movement or its activities;
– the revival of national traditions within artistic practice; the kustar’ (peasant) industries and their revival;
– folklore, epic, folk tales, and other national traditions as sources of inspiration;
– national art in the performing arts, fashion, art education, collections, exhibitions, and displays;
– histories of the definition and exploration of Russian national identity in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries;
– artists’ colonies, collectives, and artists’ groups practicing/promoting Neo-National art
– the role of patrons and promoters
– twentieth-century legacies of the Neo-National movement; centers for national craft in the Soviet period;
– the promotion of the Russian Neo-National movement abroad; and
– the Soviet adaptation and transmutation of the Neo-National style.
Proposals of no more than 500 words should be sent together with a short biography (max. 200 words) to the editors at the contact address below no later than 31 March 2018. For this issue, we welcome contributions exclusively in English. Applicants will be notified regarding acceptance of their proposal by 15 April 2018. The editors’ selections will take account of the quality and originality of the proposal, but also their desire for the thematic consistency of the volume. Materials submitted must be previously unpublished in any language. If accepted, completed articles of 4000-5000 words (including footnotes) shall be delivered to the editors no later than 30 September 2018. Style policies will be supplied by the editors; illustrations will not normally exceed six per article. Authors must be available to respond to editors’ comments and resubmit an amended text (if required) during the autumn of 2018. The edition is scheduled to appear in autumn 2019.
Experiment: A Journal of Russian Culture, an annual journal devoted to Russian culture, focuses on the movements of the early twentieth century (ISSN: 1084-4945). These include both traditional and non-traditional avenues of academic enquiry, such as studio painting and graffiti, sculpture and ballroom dancing, architecture and commercial advertising. It is hoped that broader examination of such disciplines within critical discourse will provide a stronger and more precise definition of Russia’s cultural accomplishment. Supervised by an editorial board of international stature, Experiment emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach, drawing upon archival sources while promoting and documenting the history of the Russian arts. The journal recognizes the achievements both of Imperial and Soviet Russia and of the diaspora.
For further information on Issue 25 (2019) please contact the editors: Louise Hardiman and Ludmila Piters-Hofmann at experiment2019@gmail.com.
For further information on Experiment: A Journal of Russian Culture, see: http://www.brill.com/publications/journals/experiment or contact the Editor-in-Chief, John E. Bowlt, at bowlt@usc.edu.