Art with an Accent: The Cultural Geography of Creative Expression

Presented by the Center for Basque Studies and the Department of Sociology and Cultural Analysis, in collaboration with the University of the Basque Country (EHU). All events are free and open to the public.

This conference brings together writers, scholars and artists to examine how historically minoritized communities transform identity, memory and cultural sovereignty into creative expression. Focusing on the Basque experience in comparison with other cultural traditions and histories, it explores literature, music, public art, muralism and the plastic arts as forms of resistance, placemaking and communal self-representation. Drawing on concepts such as borderlands, translanguaging, visual sovereignty and contact zones, participants will consider how artistic practices negotiate suppression, assimilation, multilingualism and territorial belonging. A Friday 5 p.m. roundtable on murals and social justice will extend these questions to public art, community identity and the cultural meanings of shared space.

Conference sessions will be held in MIKC 203 on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at the Rita Laden Senate Chambers (Joe Crowley) on Thursday, Nov. 5, and at MIKC 305 on Friday, Nov. 6.