The IICSI and Coastal Jazz invite proposals for papers and presentations for our eleventh colloquium in Vancouver, British ColumbiaAgile Futures: Approaching Improvisation. The colloquium will take place during the opening weekend of the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival at the Western Front, one of Canada’s leading artist-run centres for contemporary art and new music. The colloquium will feature as keynote speakers several world-renowned improvisers who are performing at the festival. We are inviting proposals for 20-minute presentations from artists, academics and community members. Proposals for panels would be welcome, and we are especially interested in supporting various forms of interdisciplinary, multimedia, practice-based research.

This year, we invite work that investigates relationships between improvisation and possibility. Proposals might consider these kinds of questions: In a world marked by social and cultural exhaustion, what can the improvising arts and activism contribute to the realization of hopeful futures? How do theatrical, musical and artistic practices of improvisation offer new and alternative forms of creative knowledge? How does improvisation enable responsive and responsible agility? What are the intersections of improvisation with speculative fiction or with Afro-futurisms or with experimental art-forms? How can improvisation enliven or challenge various forms of composition and performance, and contribute to an enhanced sense of awareness? Can improvising help us engage with nascent communities or public initiatives or counter-publics? How can improvisers push back at injustice or advocate for human rights? How can better, transformative and diverse futures be imagined from our immediate unruly present?

Proposals no longer than 200 words should be submitted by e-mail on or before March 25, 2019 to Dr. Kevin McNeilly, IICSI UBC Site Coordinator, University of British Columbia: [email protected].