Welcome to the first TRACTS newsletter of 2023. In this newsletter you will find information about all our upcoming events, short updates from each of the Working Group leaders, and details on how to apply for individual grants. TRACTS had a wonderful first year hosting events in Portugal, Spain, Poland, the Czech Republic and Croatia. The Action also published its first edited volume, Traces of Sisterhood, which is available via Open Access on our website. The volume is a series of essays, reflections and reviews highlighting the visual, scientific and artistic approaches to gender, social justice and traces. The publication encompasses multiple perspectives with contributions from across the arts, humanities, and activist work. The publication explores the conceptual insights on trace developed during the Working Group 2 meeting held in Warsaw in May 2022. This year we have launched and continue to develop the Action website www.tractsnetwork.online. This is the place where you can find event and grant details and application forms, general information about how the network runs, news, and relevant links.
We have a range of exciting meetings and training schools planned for 2023, and I strongly encourage you to explore the details about them listed in this newsletter. Alongside these in-person meetings the Action is still planning to hold hybrid and virtual events, to try to increase the range of participation options for our members. As part of this there are a number of online Working Group meetings planned. In these meetings the focus for this year is on planning for the Traces Atlas the multimodal tool that will bring together the insights from the Action, enabling people to share and connect with the ideas the Action develops in provocative and engaging ways. You will have already received emails from your Working Group leader about this process, we are currently developing a “glossary of key concepts” for each of the Working Groups. The hope is to hold a larger virtual event in June to allow the various Working Groups to present their contributions to the Traces Atlas to all the Action participants.
Finally, before I sign off, a short message for the Young Research Innovators. This year we are planning to kick start several short workshops specifically focused on early career development. We will be holding a virtual initial meeting at the end of February to try to glean information about what kinds of workshops will best serve the Action members. The invitations will go out in February so please look out for them.
Looking forward to meeting and working
with even more of you this year.
Aimée
Trace as Ethical, Methodological, and Conceptual Challenge (WG1)
Working Group 1, Trace as Ethical, Methodological, and Conceptual Challenge, has hosted and co-organized a series of meetings and workshops. These have served to create dialogue and reflection across and between our three core thematic areas of social justice, climate change, and technology.
Traces and Social Justice (WG2)
During the first year of the COST action the Working group 2 (WG2) on Traces and Social Justice, gathered over 120 members.
Traces and Climate Change (WG3) Traces and Technology (WG4) Dissemination and Communication (WG5)
Working group 3 (WG3) Traces and Climate Change, Working group 4 (WG4) Traces & Technology, and Working group 5 (WG5) Dissemination and Communication carried out a training school and workshop. Its members received various STSM grants and took part in several meetings organized by the Action.
Short Term Scientific Missions (STSM)
A Call for STSM Applications for Missions occurring between November 1, 2022–October 31, 2023
Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) are exchange visits aiming to support individual mobility, strengthen existing networks, and foster collaboration between COST Action Participants. They should take place until October 1, 2023. The application needs to be submitted at least six weeks before the expected starting date. STSMs are evaluated on a first-come, first-served basis.
For eligibility, application procedure, evaluation and selection of applicants, as well as financial support click here. More information on STSMs is available also by contacting the TRACTS Short Term Scientific Missions Coordinator Tina Palaić (tina.palaic@etno-muzej.si).
Grants applications must clearly indicate how they relate to the aims of a specific Working Group, and to the aims of the Action overall (as found in the MoU).
Traces of Sisterhood
workshop/ exhibition/ publication
We are delighted to present the first TRACTS edited volume on Traces of Sisterhood. It draws on the network activities within WG2 on Traces and Social Justice, highlighting experimental visual, scientific and artistic approaches to gender, social justice and traces. It explores a range of conceptual insights on traces and sisterhood developed during the interdisciplinary conversations (a three-day workshop at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw) and exhibition (16th August–16th September 2022) focused on contemporary art that incorporates fabric/cloth as a form of artistic gesture of sisterhood. More
| The open-access volume is available for download here. |
MEETINGS/ WORKSHOPS/ CONFERENCES/ TRAINING SCHOOLS
the first half of 2023
| January VALETTA, MALTA Working Group 5: Workshop and Public PresentationThe workshop was dedicated to evaluating the first years activities and define communication paths for the work in the upcoming year, introducing participants from the local university and also digital followers to the work of TRACTS.March KRAKÓW, POLAND Management Committee Meeting and Publishing Futures The annual in-person MC meeting will be held in the Ethnographic Museum Krakow. The meeting will address the organizational and networking needs of the network.April POTSDAM, GERMANYUnearthing collections: Earth Archives. The workshop organised by WG3 will focus on social, historical, and cultural traces in collections. By highlighting a range of archival, museum and university material, the symposium will investigate the ethical implications of working with unsettling traces in collections. |
