Utopia and Performance
Stockholm 30 September to 2 October 2021.
Conference Rationale
It is nothing like a dream to create the future. Utopia today, flesh and blood tomorrow.
(Victor Hugo)
Utopia is not a kind of free imagination. Utopia is a matter of the innermost urgency. You are forced to imagine it, it is the only way out, and this is what we need today.
(Slavoj Žižek)
The utopia for which I yearn takes place now, in the interstices of present interactions, in glancing moments of possibly better ways to be together as human beings.
(Jill Dolan)
These quotes represent the main accesses to the concept of utopia that are relevant to both performance practices and critical discourse. While Hugo points to an imaginary future, a vision that will be materialized soon, Žižek argues from the point of view of crisis. And Dolan adds aspects of communality to the idea of utopia. Theatre and performance engage in proposing such utopian visions as a remedy, as a critical stance in times of crisis, as an imaginary flight from straight realisms, as practiced performativities potentially materializing different futures. For the 2021 ANTS conference we invite contributions which investigate all utopian aspects that demonstrate the relevance and also the urge to practice, discuss, rethink and envision theatre and performance in manifold ways. The Theatre and Dance Department at Stockholm University celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2021. With the proposed theme, we also celebrate the Utopian spirit of its foundation and its future.
Continue reading the Conference Rationale
Registration and fees
The call for papers is closed. It will be possible to attend the entire conference without a paper presentation, provided that you register for the conference.
Registration is open
- International delegates use IBAN
Bank: Danske Bank, Norrmalmstorg1, 11146 Stockholm, Sweden
Bank account: 12810117756
IBAN: SE1612000000012810117756
SWIFT/VIC: DABASESX
Please don’t forget to give the reference:
Reference: 106/5539201
- Swedish delegates use Bankgiro
Bankgiro 5050-0206 (Danske Bank)
Please don’t forget to give the reference:
Reference: 106/5539201
Fees
Regular: €50
Student: €25
Keynote speakers and Invited Artists
- Sean Metzger (University of California, LA)
- Susanne Foellmer (Coventry University)
- Willmar Sauter (Stockholm University)
- Suzanne Osten (Stockholm)
- Linn Hilda Lamberg (Stockholm)
Keynote speakers and Invited Artists
Conference Programme
Find the Conference Schedule, Conference Abstracts, and Conference Programme for Utopia and Performance, 30 September – 2 October 2021 here.
Program Utopia and Performance (158 Kb)
Book of Abstracts Utopia and Performance (361 Kb)
Schedule Utopia and Performance (122 Kb)
Themes and output
The conference is planned around the following themes
• Theatre and performance as utopian spaces
• Theatre of hope, from the Enlightenment to the present
• Dystopia as ‘optimism on the sly’
• Escaping the ‘here and now’ through performance
• Utopian performativities
• Utopia/dystopia on Stage
• The abuse/manipulation of utopias by fascist regimes and movements
• Utopia and the welfare state
• Utopia and health
• Utopia and ecology
• Utopia and spirituality/religion
• Utopian communities
Keynote speakers and invited artists are Sean Metzger (University of California, LA), Susanne Foellmer (Coventry University), Willmar Sauter (Stockholm University), Suzanne Osten (Stockholm), Gry Worre Hallberg (Copenhagen).
Conference Output: NTS conference volume
As part of ANTS’ annual publishing activities, the conference will be followed by a special Nordic Theatre Studies volume with selected papers. All contributors to the conference will receive a call for papers. The guest editors of the volume are the conference organizers Professor Meike Wagner and Doctor Kim Skjoldager-Nielsen.
Social Programme
Welcome reception, lunches, and performances
More information
Information about Covid-19 restrictions, transports, and tourist information for participants of the conference Utopia and performance.
Covid-19
We abide by the restrictions and recommendations by the Swedish Health Authorities. Our aim is to hold an on-site conference; should this, however, turn out to be impossible, we have a plan B in place for an on-line zoom-based conference. We monitor the situation and will keep you informed about significant changes.
Transports
Metro and bus
Find travel planners and ticket information at the Stockholm public transport website. (You'll find the travel planner under "Reseplanering".)
Regional and domestic train
Are you travelling to or from Sweden and Stockhom by train? Find all information here: https://www.sj.se/en/about/about-sj/climate-friendly.html
Airports
Tourist information
Visit Stockholm
Find restaurants, exhibitions, historical sites and more at https://www.visitstockholm.com/
Theatres
Historical theatres
- The Drottningholms Slottsteater was built in 1766 at the request of Queen Lovisa Ulrika.
- In the Ulriksdal Palace Park you will find the rediscovered treasure from 1753 that is Confidencen, Sweden’s oldest rococo theatre.
- Gustavus III’s Theatre at gripsholm Castle
- Strindbergs Intima teater
Museums
- Dansmuseet, a museum for movement and dance
- The Swedish Museum of Performing Arts
- Moderna museet, one of Europe’s leading museums for modern and contemporary art
- Fotografiska, exhibits world-renowned photographers
- Strindbergsmuseet, located in the authur August Strindberg's last appartment, exhibits various aspects on his life and work
- Nordiska museet, Sweden’s largest museum of cultural history
Archives and libraries
- Musik- och teaterbiblioteket, the library of music and theatre
- Kungliga biblioteket, the National library of Sweden
Funded by Riksbankens jubileumsfond and Nordisk kulturfond
Contact
Last updated: November 3, 2021
Source: Institutionen för kultur och estetik