Call for papers - submissions (Please find the PDF at the end of the page)

Submissions are accepted three times per year: January 10, April 1st and September 1st. Writers are invited to propose articles of between 1000 to 2000 words. These can be sent by e-mail in Word or RTF format to redaction@esse.ca. To facilitate the editorial and correction process, writers should include their postal address, telephone numbers and e-mail address, as well as a short biography and an abstract of the text (100 words). If the article is related to a specific work, the Editorial Board may ask the writer to provide images. We also welcome submissions (reviews, essays, analyses of contemporary art issues) not related to a particular theme. The deadline for esse no. 77 is September 1, 2012.

ESSE 77: THEME INDIGNATION

This issue addresses the social and political upheavals that have crystallized since 2011, and whose momentum is seemingly unstoppable. The Arab spring was a catalyst, marked by the peoples of the Arab world, beginning in Tunisia, taking to the streets in revolt against tyrannical and authoritarian governments, some of which they managed to overthrow. To a backdrop of global economic crisis, the spring of 2011 also witnessed the birth of the Occupy movement, which, beginning with the Indignados in Spain, spread city by city across the globe, reaching Greece, the United States, Québec, and occupying public spaces to peacefully express its indignation at the social inequalities created with impunity by the financial markets in collusion with governments. Driven by the slogan “We are the 99%,” this movement that burgeoned until the fall made a determined call for popular resistance.

This winter in Quebec, feelings of indignation ran high again, mobilizing the student movement to strike against the tuition fee hikes imposed by the government. Given that this student campaign denounces the commoditization of knowledge and the transformation of universities into businesses, many have interpreted it as an indicator for a broader social movement, as the dawn of a Quebec spring (charmingly dubbed the “Maple spring” on the placards). Other equally indignant social groups are protesting the exploitation of shale gas and the Plan Nord in general. What all these campaigners for a popular awakening have in common is their concern for matters befalling the public good and democracy.

In this context, what is transpiring in the art world? How are artists responding? Have arts from the Arab world gained critical regard in the West (noteworthy here is their increased representativity at the Venice Biennale in 2011) as a result of the Arab spring? Are artists from Arab countries in revolt, as well as those from other repressive regimes such as China and Russia, addressing the struggle for democracy in their works? Does their art bear witness to the confrontations they have experienced and reflect their cultural realities? How is the freedom of expression of these artists being affected? In fact, how effective is art in such contexts? And in our more permissive social democracies, how is the desire to defy being portrayed, and what new motifs of resistance are artists exploring?

On a more general note, how do artistic practices serve these social movements? Do they represent the precursors of modes of resistance adopted by the population at large? Conversely, does art not seem inadequate in the face of popular activism and militancy? What are the artists doing when the masses are on the streets? Even before the Occupy movement, numerous artistic practices were exploiting the rapprochement of art and the real, in an attempt to erase the boundaries between art and life, the artist and the spectator. Does this bearing still hold sway in a time of crisis?

Seeing that popular indignation is taking on the form of street demonstrations and occupations, we are witness to a proliferation of creative means through which to display ideas and take possession of urban space. How should the production of all the banners, placards, slogans, street processions, and dress codes be interpreted? Does indignation and the means by which it is expressed really lead to a culture of sharing and free of copyrights, as the social media suggest?

esse magazine is looking for texts revolving around these issues and other lines of thought relating to the means by which art is concerned with injustice, rebellion, and the refusal to yield.

Young Critics Competition

esse's critical writing competition is open to young writers registered in undergraduate or graduate university studies. The article can be an art-related essay, or a critical review of an exhibition, performance, or site-specific intervention, and should respect the magazine’s general mandate. Texts should be between 750 – 1250 words in length. The winner of this competition will see their article in print in the September 2012 issue of esse magazine (no. 76). This author will receive a support from the editorial board for the final writing, a writer’s fee of $250 as well as a two-year subscription to esse.

For article Submissions contact us at: redaction@esse.ca. Please write “Young Critics Competition” in the subject line. You have until May 10, 2012 to send your text. *The competition is open only to students living in Canada.