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Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC)October 21-24, 2015Pittsburgh, PAAbstractWhen reading museum labels or exhibition catalogues, viewers are typically informed of an artist's nationality, suggesting it as a relevant lens for viewing their work. In the context of the Middle East and Islamic world, artists from countries as disparate as Morocco and Iran are exhibited together as working within a unifying aesthetic or sociopolitical context. While such identity politics offer marketing tools for artists outside the Euro-American mainstream, this model obviates the complexities of each individual's art practice. At the same time, nationality can play a vital role in the historicity of an artist's worldmaking. Rather than assuming cultural heritage and national identity as innate, this panel will investigate how artists from the Middle East wield art media as productive mechanisms of identity. From the early professionalization of 19th-century oil painting and photography studios to contemporary installations and aesthetics (relational or otherwise), this panel invites papers that explore the instrumental role of medium and its accompanying discourses. Questions to consider include: How do artists draw from their wealth of experiences and art historical explorations to mediate their creative identities? In what ways can artists complicate and challenge assumptions about their work through a projected nationalistic lens? We welcome paper proposals discussing artists from the Middle East and its diasporas from the 19th century to the present day that emphasize the physical and material aspects of art-making.Session chairs: Sascha Crasnow, University of California San Diego, and Elizabeth Rauh, University of Michigan. Contact: smcrasno@ucsd.edu erauh@umich.eduAbstracts (200 words maximum) should be submitted directly through the SECAC website by April 20th: https://secac.memberclicks.net/index.php?option=com_mc&#38;view=mc&#38;mcid=form_187575