Announcing PAA XIV International Symposium
Oceanic Blazing Forms: Memory, Place-making and Imagination
23-27 June 2026 Wereldmuseum Leiden
The 14th International Symposium of the Pacific Arts Association entitled Oceanic Blazing Forms: Memory, Place-making and Imagination will take place at the Wereldmuseum Leiden, the Netherlands from 23 to 27 June 2026. The symposium ties in with the exhibition Time for Papua, opening on 12 February 2026 and closing on 7 January 2027. For the first time in forty years, the Wereldmuseum is showcasing a selection of its western New Guinea collection as well as especially commissioned work. Visitors are invited to explore the richness, intricacy and making traditions of the art and material culture of this former Dutch colony. In addition, the public will discover concepts of time that relate to memory, place-making and imagination.
The symposium is further part of a series of gatherings aimed at rethinking global art histories through the expansive and intellectual space of the Wereldmuseum, which challenges the structures and assumptions of both art history and anthropology through new approaches to material culture. The title of these gatherings ‘blazing forms’, taken from Margaret Danner’s poem The Convert, that initially applied to the blazing power of African art and material culture is here applied to Oceania to become Oceanic Blazing Forms: Memory, Place-making and Imagination. For more information on this series, visit materialculture.nl
We invite papers that deal with art, including performing arts and material culture more broadly that reflect upon the following themes and questions:
1. Memory
~ How are objects and intangible cultural heritage connected to the transmission of knowledge?
~ How do concepts of tradition work in the present?
~ How are continuity and change entangled?
2. Place-making
~ How do art and material culture contribute to place-making in the world for people based on ancestral lands and beyond?
~ How are connections to ancestors made through the making and performing of art?
~ How can art contribute to place-making in a world under threat of mining, deforestation and climate change?
3. Imagination
~ How to imagine and conceptualize new and alternative art histories?
~ How can art be in service of societal and political change?
~ How do past material culture practices embody imaginations for the wanted and needed possible futures?
Submission guidelines
Those wishing to present papers at the symposium have two options: (a) a paper of 20 minutes followed by 5-10 minutes discussion, (b) a 10-minute report. There are also two options for those wishing to contribute through performance (spoken word/dance/music): (a) 30 minutes or (b) 15 minutes.
Please send abstracts of 150-200 words for papers or reports to paasymposium2026@wereldmuseum.nl, using the submission form by Friday 5 September 2025. Acceptance will be confirmed by Monday 6 October 2025, allowing time for presenters to make their travel and accommodation arrangements. Conference attendance fees will be €250 standard/€190 concessions.
2026 PAA Leiden Abstract Submission Form
2026 XIV International PAA Symposium
The symposium is further part of a series of gatherings aimed at rethinking global art histories through the expansive and intellectual space of the Wereldmuseum, which challenges the structures and assumptions of both art history and anthropology through new approaches to material culture. The title of these gatherings ‘blazing forms’, taken from Margaret Danner’s poem The Convert, that initially applied to the blazing power of African art and material culture is here applied to Oceania to become Oceanic Blazing Forms: Memory, Place-making and Imagination. For more information on this series, visit materialculture.nl
We invite papers that deal with art, including performing arts and material culture more broadly that reflect upon the following themes and questions:
1. Memory
~ How are objects and intangible cultural heritage connected to the transmission of knowledge?
~ How do concepts of tradition work in the present?
~ How are continuity and change entangled?
2. Place-making
~ How do art and material culture contribute to place-making in the world for people based on ancestral lands and beyond?
~ How are connections to ancestors made through the making and performing of art?
~ How can art contribute to place-making in a world under threat of mining, deforestation and climate change?
3. Imagination
~ How to imagine and conceptualize new and alternative art histories?
~ How can art be in service of societal and political change?
~ How do past material culture practices embody imaginations for the wanted and needed possible futures?
Submission guidelines
Those wishing to present papers at the symposium have two options: (a) a paper of 20 minutes followed by 5-10 minutes discussion, (b) a 10-minute report. There are also two options for those wishing to contribute through performance (spoken word/dance/music): (a) 30 minutes or (b) 15 minutes.
Please send abstracts of 150-200 words for papers or reports to paasymposium2026@wereldmuseum.nl, using the submission form by Friday 5 September 2025. Acceptance will be confirmed by Monday 6 October 2025, allowing time for presenters to make their travel and accommodation arrangements. Conference attendance fees will be €250 standard/€190 concessions.
2026 PAA Leiden Abstract Submission Form
2026 XIV International PAA Symposium