Originality and Creativity in Everyday Arts
A BSA Postgraduate Regional Event
12 May 2025
Violet Laidlaw Room, 6 Floor, Chrystal Macmillan Building, 15a George Square, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9LD
About the Event
The notions of “originality” and “creativity” have long been central to the Western art historical discourse, often serving as primary criteria for evaluating artistic merit. However, as we broaden our perspective to encompass a wider spectrum of artistic practices, the universality of these concepts becomes increasingly questionable. From sculptural and textile arts that emphasize craftsmanship and inherited techniques, to performative arts like dance and singing that foreground bodily skills; from the modular logic of East Asian artistic production to exploration of archetypal forms in Islamic visual traditions; from countercultural DIY practices in 1970s to contemporary digital self-expression in social media—we find that the implications of originality and creativity become more complex across different art forms, geographical regions, and historical periods.
The conference “Originality and Creativity in Everyday Arts” brings together postgraduate (Master’s and PhD) students to examine these phenomena through sociological frameworks. By creating a dialogue space for various theoretical approaches and empirical investigations, we aim to unpack how creativity and originality are socially constructed, culturally directed, institutionally maintained, and practically negotiated in different contexts. Through these discussions, we hope to contribute to ongoing sociological debates about artistic production and creativity in contemporary society and understand how notions of originality and creativity intersect with broader social structures, cultural hierarchies, and power dynamics.
Prof Kat Jungnickel from Goldsmiths, University of London will deliver a keynote speech at the end of this event. More details will be published at a later stage.
Call for Papers
This conference will call for abstracts from current postgraduate (Master’s and PhD) students who are working within cultural sociology and the sociology of the arts, broadly construed. Prospective abstracts must respond to the conference’s theme and can address, but by no means be limited to, the following aspects:
- Art practices from less represented genres, regions, and social groups
- Art under globalisation
- Evaluation and judgement of originality and creativity
- Everyday aesthetic objects and practices
- Interdisciplinarity between sociology and art theory and history
- Materiality and material culture
- Theories of originality and creativity
- Methods and methodologies of research the arts from a sociological perspective
Applicants should submit their abstracts (250 words maximum) for a 15-minute presentation through the online submission form by 7 March 2025. The organisers will select and decide the successful candidates with support of the convenors of the BSA Sociology of the Arts Study Group. According to the provisional programme, the conference will admit around nine presenters.
Registration
This will be an in-person only event. To encourage engagement, this event is free to register. Lunch and refreshments will be provided.
The event will be hosted at the University of Edinburgh and convened by Ningxiang Sun and Jiayi Tian (both PhD students in Sociology, School of Social and Political Science). It is supported by the BSA Sociology of the Arts Study Group. The School of Social and Political Science generously provided the venue and facilities.
Key Dates
Abstract submission: 7 March 2025
Abstract decision communication: 21 March 2025
Registration open: 21 March 2025
Registration closed: 4 April 2025
Event date: 12 May 2025