Tate Liverpool, Alice in Wonderland: 4th November 2011- 29th January 2012

Postgraduate Research Forum: CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Alice Culture: The Endurance of Wonderland

Saturday 19^th November 2011, 10.00am-1.00pm

One of the most widely recognized and influential figures of children’s literature, Lewis Carroll’s Alice embodies a world of creative play and innovation that continues to fascinate with longevity and wide-ranging appeal. First written in 1864, Carroll’s original, self-illustrated manuscript marks the starting point for a fusion of word and image that combine to make the visual Wonderland.

Innovation and experimentation surround Alice. From Carroll’s language puzzles to his photographic works, his association with the Liddell family, to the surrealism of the Mad Hatter, the blurring of fiction and reality is tied up in the perpetuation of Wonderland and the development of a unique cultural tradition. Art and language united, Alice asks to be read again and again, and provokes a looking through into a world beyond.

To coincide with the Alice in Wonderland exhibition at Tate Liverpool, this research forum invites proposals that respond to and explore the continued popularity of the worlds of Alice. Participants are invited to explore themes responding to the influence of Alice in relation to art practice, art history and literary experimentation. What is it that makes Alice so consistently appealing? How have artists and writers reflected upon and responded to Carroll’s creative world? What is the future for Wonderland?

Topics could include, but are not limited to:

·       Photography and Illustration: From Carroll to the Contemporary

·       The Feminist Alice

·       Reading Images/Drawing Words

·       Word Play: Performing Language

·       Wonderland Today

The forum will be chaired by Catriona McAra

All current postgraduates students, or those who have recently graduated, are invited to submit proposals of no more than twenty minutes. Cross-disciplinary approaches are welcome. Please submit proposals (500 words max.) accompanied by a brief academic biography to

 alison.criddle@tate.org.uk @tate.org.uk no later than Saturday 15^th October 2011.

This Research Forum coincides with the symposia, Alice in Wonderland Symposium on Friday 18^th November 2011 at Tate Liverpool. Visit www.tate.org.uk for more information.