35th Annual Gulf Conference - Call for Papers

Centre for Gulf Studies 

35th Exeter Gulf Conference 

Temporality and Aesthetics in the Arabian Peninsula 

7- 8 July 2025 

Call for Papers 

The University of Exeter’s Centre for Gulf Studies invites papers for the 2025 annual Gulf Conference on the theme of Temporality and Aesthetics in the Arabian Peninsula. The Arabian Peninsula is overwhelmingly cast in temporal terms. Dominant temporal tropes figure the Gulf monarchies as a space of ultramodern development and futuristic nation building. These tropes are also entwined with the anxieties of political orders as they confront the finiteness of hydrocarbons and the supposed transience of their “temporary” populations. Even more pervasive is the temporal mapping of the broader region on an evolutionary scale, as either tribal or feudal anachronisms or dystopian post-modern urban agglomerations. 

These temporal registers constitute an aesthetic through which political power, and resistance to it, both appear and are played out, especially in the absence of open political deliberation and debate. Artistic movements such as the art collective “GCC”, and concepts such as “Gulf Futurism” have already expressed the paradoxes of Gulf temporalities beyond the ways in which they are academically studied. The scholarly study of museums, architecture, music, heritage, cultural production, and creative industries is one way in which the aesthetic realm is becoming increasingly visible. Beyond official spaces or the political and ideological projects they represent, we ask how attention to the aesthetic realm provides an opportunity to examine major recurring tropes in the study of the region, such as decadence, artificiality, authenticity, or vulgarity. How does the domain of the aesthetic - in art, architecture, film and literature - allow us to better comprehend how values and ideals are cultivated, enforced, and contested in the region? 

We welcome imaginative and critical examination of the range of issues covered by this title and invite contributions from art practitioners and scholars from the following disciplines: 

• Visual arts 
• Drama 
• Film studies 
• Museum studies 
• Architecture 
• Anthropology and sociology 
• Human and cultural geography 
• Environmental and urban studies 
• Science and technology studies 
• Literary studies 
• Political economy 
• Gender studies 
• Political science and international relations 
• History and art history 
• Migration and diaspora studies 

How to apply 

Interested parties are asked to submit paper proposals (abstracts of 250-300 words), and a full CV including affiliation and contact details, before 18 April 2025 to gulfconference@exeter.ac.uk. Candidates whose abstracts are accepted will be notified by 2 May 2025. 

Practical Information 

All presenters whose papers are accepted for the Conference will have their lunches and the Conference dinner arranged and covered by the University of Exeter. Unfortunately, we are unable to cover travel expenses to and from Exeter, nor accommodation in Exeter.