Art and Psyche in Sicily: Layers and Liminality - September 2-6, 2015

CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Please join us for a four-day conference to be held in the beautiful ancient Sicilian town of Siracusa. Sicily, surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, is a crossroads between worlds and cultures where layers of civilizations, from Greek and Roman to Arab and Norman, contact and overlap one another at every turn. The city of Siracusa is a place where Plato stayed for a time and Freud visited in 1910. The stunning landscape, art, architecture, archeology, and colorful history will reveal itself as the conference unfolds. We trust that layers of psyche will also emerge through our interaction with the environment, the presentations, and the experience of a community made up of people who are passionate about art and depth psychology.

Home base for the conference will be a hotel located in Siracusa’s historic center with close proximity to archeological sites, museums, charming shops and restaurants. Selected plenaries will be held in the Paolo Orsi Archeological Museum, followed by a tour for participants, and in the nearby stunning Greek Theatre, followed by a visit to the Neapolis Archeological Area. And, as last time, we will offer a dream-over, this time in an ancient site. A half-day trip to another stellar archeological site outside the town will also be included. We encourage submissions from artists and therapists of all persuasions and anyone with an interest in depth psychology. We are looking for creative proposals that may range from ancient to contemporary subjects and from experiential workshops to formal papers. Our hope is that the overarching theme of layers and liminality will offer flexibility and open space for imaginative expression of mind, body and soul. Possible themes for exploration could include:

*The symbolic relevance of Sicily as a crossroads and container for multiple cultures and civilizations
*The importance of the transcendent function as a connecting principle between art and psyche
*Space and time “in between”
*The emergence of new life from ancient ruins
*The co-existence of art and psyche in a shared liminal space
*Artist/analyst as archeologist
*The relevance of myth for art and psyche
*Island as image and metaphor
*Mapping as physical artistic process and psychological experience

Allow your imagination to respond freely to the place, time and overarching theme of layers and liminality. Please send us your proposal of 500 words along with a brief autobiography and audiovisual needs by January 1, 2015. Let us know if you are interested in presenting a paper, a workshop or a brief “spark” of an idea that would last for 20 minutes followed by discussion. By request following our last conference, we will be sure to save time for audience response and interaction, so as to encourage the emergence of community spirit. Artists are encouraged to send slides of their work or website address.

We look forward to seeing those of you who have attended previous Art and Psyche conferences in San Francisco (2008) and New York (2012) and we welcome new presenters and participants. The continuation of an exciting dialogue between art and psychology embedded in a fascinating environment is the aim of this new conference. Please join us.


Proposals can be sent to artandpsyche.sicily@gmail.com by January 1, 2015.

Acceptances will be sent by March 15, 2015.

With all best wishes,
The Art and Psyche Working Group
Linda Carter, Diane Fremont, Melinda Haas, Ami Ronnberg, Ellen Scott, Caterina Vezzoli, Lino Ancona, Francesca Picone