Religious Encounters and Creative Practice

Call for Papers

We invite contributions to our conference 'Religious Encounters through Creative Practice' which focuses on the role of creative practice in our understandings of Religious Encounters of different faiths and acts of coexistence. The event encourages submissions from a range of disciplines and will be open to both academic audiences and wider communities. 

Specifically, we invite submissions of creative works (in art, architectural practice, performative arts, digital art, crafting) that explore the themes of religious coexistence, shared sacred spaces or interfaith encounters. We are particularly interested in contributions which reflect critically on the potentialities of creative mediums, the ways in which they might interrogate mainstream models and imaginaries of religious difference, and/or offer new, alternative perspectives and insights on the lived realities of religious interaction in sacred and contested spaces. 

This call invites creative practice outputs and paper contributions that respond (but are not limited) to the following themes: 

• Sacred Spaces & Religious Encounters: How do different faith communities share, contest or transform spaces? 
• The Role of Architecture & Urban Environments in Religious Coexistence: How do built environments function as places of encounter? 
• Embodied Religious Practices & Rituals in Shared Spaces: How is religious coexistence experienced and understood in shared spaces?
• Media, Representation & the Visual Culture of Religious Encounter: How do architectural design, drawing, arts, media and cultures depict religious interactions? 

Each speaker will contribute a 10-minute presentation (of one per-circulated paper) and one discussant on a topic will respond to each panel to connect its presentations into discussion. 

This is an opportunity to engage in a dynamic, research-driven dialogue on religious coexistence - we welcome creative voices that contribute to this conversation in meaningful and innovative ways.