At the 106th annual conference of the College Art Association, HBA will be represented by an affiliate session (with details below), a business meeting, and an off-site visit (still in the planning stages). A full list of panels is available from the 2018 Call for Participation.
The Image of the American Indian in Britain, ca. 1800–1930: New Critical Perspectives
Los Angeles Convention Center, 21–24 February 2018
Proposals due by 14 August 2017
The study of the representation of American Indians has gained increasing attention in recent scholarship. This history, however, has been almost exclusively written from a North American perspective. In nineteenth-century Britain a widespread fascination with Native American cultures was connected to wider debates about empire and the transatlantic world. But what Kate Flint termed the “Transatlantic Indian” in her pioneering study has remained largely unexamined. This interdisciplinary session seeks to explore the various ways in which native peoples from the United States and Canada, and the artifacts of their cultures, were being represented, portrayed, studied, and collected in Britain in the long nineteenth century. Possible topics for discussion might include: Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows and other live performances; George Catlin’s Indian Gallery in London; ethnographic museums and displays; displays of sculptures at the international exhibitions and other venues; photography and its circulation; and illustrations and the printed press. We welcome papers that address specific case studies or larger conceptual issues. This session is sponsored by the Historians of British Art.
To submit a proposal, please follow CAA guidelines. Proposals should be submitted directly to the session chairs: Martina Droth, Yale Center for British Art (martina.droth@yale.edu), and Michael Hatt, Warwick University (M.Hatt@warwick.ac.uk).