32nd IPC Conference Call for Presentations - Extended Deadline!

EXTENDED DEADLINE:  MARCH 12, 2023!

Call For Presentations

Panoramas, Immersive Media, and Lost Worlds

32^nd International Panorama Council Conference

September 26-30, 2023, Iowa City, Iowa

Hosted by the

University of Iowa Museum of Natural History

The International Panorama Council invites scholars, artists, panorama/diorama enthusiasts and panorama/diorama practitioners to submit proposals that explore “PANORAMAS, IMMERSIVE MEDIA, AND LOST WORLDS”, hosted by the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History in Iowa City, Iowa, USA. The conference will take place September 26-30, with an optional post-conference excursion on September 30, 2023.

Panoramas, Immersive Media, and Lost Worlds

Panoramas and other apparatus of immersive media, both in the past and today, strive to recreate worlds that might otherwise be “lost.” They do this in many ways. They transport us across distances we cannot travel, into experiences we cannot access, and into imaginary realms we cannot conjure ourselves; and/or they reconstitute long-ago worlds that the passing of time has erased. And all too often, panoramas themselves become lost: unable to survive, many are known only through their fragmented presence in the historical archive.

The 2023 IPC conference will explore lost relationships among viewers, panoramas, and the worlds they represent, and in so doing will reflect on what has been—or perhaps remains—lost in the many folds of this exchange. We invite proposals for field reports, creative presentations, and scholarly papers of up to 20 minutes in length that explore the conference theme. We are especially interested in the use, conservation, creation, and study of the 3-dimensional elements of panoramas and/or dioramas such as faux terrain, cultural or historical objects, or natural history specimens. We welcome proposals on lost panoramas/dioramas and efforts to reconstitute them; lost or little-known media forms; campaigns to restore apparatus; past modes of viewership; multi-sensory approaches to capturing a “more-complete” fidelity to places and events; and the varied techniques such as scale, trompe-l’oeil effects, three-dimensional elements, musical scoring, sound effects, live narration, preserved cultural or natural history specimens, etc. with which present and/or distance are coordinated in the production of panoramic and immersive fidelity.

As an interdisciplinary and international organization, the IPC welcomes proposals from scholars, artists, and practitioners working in many disciplines and areas. The IPC conference will be of interest to scholars, professionals, students, and enthusiasts of art, architecture, art history, conservation and preservation, cultural heritage, design, history, media, museum practice, panorama management, restoration, virtual reality, and visual culture, as well as to thinkers and makers from other disciplines or whose work is transdisciplinary with an interest in immersive media, mediated sensation, and/or the representation of natural history.

Each presentation proposal submission must be in Microsoft Word format and include: title of the presentation, abstract (250-300 words), bio (200 words), author(s), organization affiliation(s), complete mailing address, email address, and four to five keywords. Please also indicate whether you prefer to present from a Mac or a PC, and what software program(s) you might use (i.e. PowerPoint, Keynote, or other software programs); this will help us plan ahead for all presenters’ needs.

Deadline for presentation submission: March 12, 2023

Please submit all abstracts and queries related to submissions to: secretariat@panoramacouncil.org

Acceptance notifications will be emailed by April 9, 2023. Accepted presenters will be required to upload their completed, ready-to-use  presentation files to a Dropbox folder by  end-of-day Friday, August 16, 2022