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Critical Costume 2015An international conference and exhibition of costume25-27 March 2015, Helsinki, FinlandAalto University, School of Arts, Design and ArchitectureWhat does it mean to study costume in the 21st century?Early theoretical discourse on costume (Hollander 1975/1993; Wilson  1985/2013; Gaines 1990) underlines the active interrelation between  costume, body and character by arguing that "costume assimilates bodily  signifiers into character, but body as a whole engulfs the dress"  (Gaines 1990: 193).In the 21st century, costume practices are now encountered through a  multitude of different media: from film and theatre to virtual environments and mediated platforms. Mediation has become a prevalent principle of contemporary life and culture. Yet, the role of the  costumed body and of how bodily practices are 'read' within and  explored through these contexts remains a central question of 21st  century artistic scholarship and practice.Costume is still a relatively new and emerging research area. however,  the study of costume has significantly grown in profile in recent years  as a subject worthy of focused academic study, as evident within the  growing number of international scholarly publications on costume and  the costumed body in the last decade. Most recently, special issues of  academic journals, such as Canadian Theatre Review (2012) and Scene  (2014, forthcoming), have addressed the agency of costume in live  performance as well as in film and other media. In that regard,  Critical Costume 2015 is the second event conceived under the banner of  Critical Costume, following a research project initiated by Dr. Rachel  Hann and Sidsel Bech at Edge Hill University (UK) in 2013 (see  www.criticalcostume.com). The overall aim of the Critical Costumeevents is to offer a platform for new academic thinking and designpractices around the study of costume: with costume conceived as ameans of critically interrogating the body in/as performance.Therefore, Critical Costume 2015 invites contributions from scholars  and practitioners that seek to address the implications of research  processes, new technologies and media for the study and practice of  costuming today and in history.While we welcome all proposals on the subject of costume,Critical  Costume 2015 is particularly interested in contributions from  practitioners and scholars that investigate the following:a) Methodologies for researching costume in live performance, film and  media: this includes practice-based approaches, new technologies as a  tool for costume research, as well as historical, sociological,  ethnographic, anthropological or other cultural perspectives in  studying costume practices.b) Media and mediated costume, and new design practices: costume in  media and media in costume; these include digital costume, wearable  technology, interactivity, latest technology and special effects, and  the dramaturgical implications of interpreting screen-mediated or  projected costume.c) Costume practices and performances that examine the performative  qualities of material (whether physical or virtual), body, flesh, and  design.The event includes- an exhibition of artistic work and artistic research,- a conference comprised of academic presentations on current researchin the field of costume and performance,- Flash Talks - short presentations by artists, and- film and media screenings.In that regard, we invite all interested parties to submit theirproposals stating which presentation format you wish to be consideredfor:- 20min paper presentation (title and 300-word abstract)- Flash Talk presentations (title and 200-word summary)- Exhibition or Installation work – physical or mediated object (titleand 200-word description)Note: We welcome applications to present in more than one format.The event language is English.Deadline for the submission of proposals: 20 October 2014Notification of acceptance: 25 November 2014Please submit your proposals online at http://costumeinfocus.com or at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1kBlaVFF3bKwr8akRKJxiC_Sz3ZAbOGHfOHBnjzpSNO8/viewform?c=0&#38;w=1Critical Costume 2015 is curated by Professor Sofia Pantouvaki andhosted by the Costume in Focus research group, based at AaltoUniversity School of Arts, Design and Architecture.Reference / Quellennachweis:CFP: Critical Costume (Helsinki, 25-27 Mar 15). In: H-ArtHist, Sep 18,2014. &#60;http://arthist.net/archive/8425&#62;.