If there are ghosts to raise,
What shall I call,
Out of hell’s murky haze,
Heaven’s blue pall?
Raise my loved long-lost boy
To lead me to his joy. –
There are no ghosts to raise;
Out of death lead no ways;
Vain is the call

Thomas Lovell Beddoes,“Dream-Pedlary,” 29-37.

The theme invites investigations that delve into the peripheral realms of art – be they visual, literary, or performed.

Marginal Imagery: Quests into the borders of media and the edges of representation. How does marginalization manifest physically or figuratively? How do ambiguity and fragmentation function in creative gestures? How do artists mobilize the periphery as a space of resistance, tension, or transformation?

Neglected Narratives: Analyses attending to the politics of obscurity. What works, voices, or forms have been excluded or overlooked, and why?

The Aesthetics of the Abstruse: Explorations of the esoteric, the invisible, and that which is shrouded in mystery. How can the enigmatic reframe knowledge and perception?

Submissions should be between 2,000 and 3,000 words (excluding citations), though longer papers will be considered. We invite papers concerning art history, communications studies, English literature, theatre, and cultural studies to be submitted through the link in our bio in docx. format.

Papers should be formatted according to the Chicago-17 or MLA-9 Manuals of Style.”

The symposium will take place in-person in Montreal on February 21st, 2026, so please only submit if you are able to be available on the day.

Agnes Pelton. The Fountains. 1926.  Oil on canvas, 91.8 × 81.3 cm. The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Attributed to Tosa Mitsunobu, Tale of the Rat (Nezumi zōshi emaki), Muromachi period, circa 1469. Handscroll; ink, color, and gold on paper, 16.7 x 431 cm

Jeanne Mammen, Masked Ball, 1928. Watercolour on paper, 11 x 17 cm.