Feminism, Art, and Politics: Critical Engagements with Heresies (1977-1993) 

This panel invites proposals that critically examine the radical interventions of Heresies: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics, which was published in New York by the Heresies Collective between 1977 and 1993. This pioneering art magazine fundamentally challenged the male-dominated structures of the time by providing a platform for feminist voices in the arts. 

The Collective’s innovative embrace of varied formats—from artist pages and poetry to theoretical essays and political manifestos—and radical publishing practices—including recruiting distinct editorial collectives and hosting public debriefs—pushed conventional academic boundaries, challenged existing editorial platforms, and critiqued conventional art institutions. Heresies played a role in shaping the nascent field of feminist art history and was an innovative and expansive site that fostered critical feminist discourse around art, theory, and activism.

This session aims to attract scholars from various disciplines who have an interest in exploring all aspects of Heresies from both art historical and critical feminist perspectives. Our goal is to build a community of Heresies researchers from a range of disciplines, fields, and perspectives including art practitioners, curators, art historians, archivists, digital humanists, and feminist theorists. Papers may address specific issues, thematic threads, featured artists, or periods within Heresies’ publication history. Topics of particular interest include: the interplay between art, political action, and feminist publishing; the complex dynamics that shaped the publication’s efforts to develop intersectional and anti-racist perspectives on art, gender, race, class, and sexuality; and, finally, the use of innovative digital methods for studying the Heresies collection archive (http://heresiesfilmproject.org/).  

Submit your Paper via this form. Please download, complete and send it directly to the Session Convenor(s) below by Sunday 2 November 2025:

Michelle Meagher, University of Alberta, Canada, michelle.meagher@ualberta.ca